Having Only Hopes for Tomorrow
by Hostfanatic
Summary: The soul called Bending Leaves wakes up. He has been put into the body of a human named Ian. The Seekers are looking for information about the soul named Wanderer. The problem is that Ian loves Wanderer, and he will do anything to get back to her...and Bending Leaves is starting to fall in love with her, too. Will they manage to evade the Seekers and get back to the girl they love?
1. Chapter 1

** Hello, all! Hostfanatic here. This is an idea that I came up with a while back, but I haven't gotten a chance to actually type it out. I'm putting the first chapter up just to see if you like it. If you think that I should continue, then I will. Hope you enjoy!**

** Reviews, please!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own The Host. That magnificent honor sadly belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

** Sigh.**

It was so dark, and I couldn't see.

I knew that I would be able to soon, though. I have been prepared for this. I knew what would happen now.

Sure enough, the memory unfolded. This body's last moments.

_I can't see. It's dark._

_ Why on earth did I let her come with me?_

_ I can feel her next to me, shivering. I wrap an arm around her and try to help her. She's so afraid. She's not afraid for herself, though. She never is. Silly. Selfless. She is afraid for me. She's afraid for Melanie, Jamie, and Jared. She's even afraid for Kyle, even though she should hate him. I did when he tried to kill her._

I trembled as I watched the memory. Tried to kill her? Kill the innocent girl I see in the memory? What kind of planet was this before we came to colonize?

Abruptly, I was brutally yanked back into the memory. It was strong and sure, and it made me want to scream.

_Bright flashlights sweep across our faces. I wince. Jared must be here._

_ The glittering eyes that I see approaching us instantly disperses with that theory._

_ "RUN, WANDA!" I'm on my feet in an instant, ready to hold them off._

_ "Ian, no!" she cries._

_ "I'll be right there!" I insist. "Just hurry! I'll catch up!"_

_ She still refuses to budge._

_ "Don't move!" the voice calls from ahead of us. The Seekers are here! The Seekers will hurt her! They will kill her! They will take her away from me!_

_ I can't waste time forcing her to move. Luckily, I don't have to._

_ Two figures appear out of nowhere. Jamie and Melanie._

_ "Wanda, come ON!" Melanie shouts. She and Jamie grab Wanda and pull her away._

_ "Ian!" I hear her screaming for me, but I can't focus on that._

_ The Seekers are advancing._

_ "Don't hurt yourself," one of them pleads, just like with Melanie._

_ "I'd be more concerned about yourself if I were you," I snarl at him, leaping forward and nailing him hard in the chest with a well-placed kick. He falls in an instant, and I race out of the distant cave. It's nowhere near the other caves. The others will not be found. That's the important thing._

_ Outside, it is pandemonium. Everyone is fighting. The Seekers are swarming around._

_ I manage to duck behind a dune, and I look frantically for Wanda. I can't find her anywhere._

_ Then I see Kyle._

_ I feel so helpless and sad. The Seekers have targeted me. I know this._

_ I grab Kyle and pull him behind the dune with me._

_ "Ian, what the heck?" he splutters._

_ "Kyle, just listen to me," I whisper. "I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to make it out of here. They've targeted me, for some reason."_

_ Kyle's face darkens. "I've noticed," he practically snarls. He is angry at them, and he should be. Ever since the beginning of the invasion, all we've had is each other. He doesn't want to lose me._

_ "Kyle, I need you to promise me something."_

_ He looks confused._

_ "I need you to promise that you'll take care of her if something happens to me," I breathe. "I need you to take care of Wanda for me."_

_ "Ian, don't talk like that—,"_

_ "Kyle, promise me!"_

_ He stares at me for a moment, and then his head lowers. "I promise," he says quietly._

_ "Good." I get to my feet and rush out from behind the dune. I'm still trying to find Wanda. I have to get her out of here._

_ Suddenly, something slams into me from behind, hard, and I tumble to the sand. I turn and see a Seeker, looking almost apologetic._

_ "Please hold still," she says. "I don't want to hurt you."_

_ I snarl something at her that I've never said before in the presence of a lady and try to get back on my feet, but they're suddenly surrounding me, holding me, pushing me back to the sand. I'm lost. It's all over, at least for me._

_ I hear a cry, and I turn to see Wanda at last. She's running across the desert, running for me._

_ Panic surges through me. They'll take her, too! That can't happen!_

_ "Wanda, NO!" I scream._

_ Suddenly, Kyle is there, and he's holding her back. She's fighting him, but he's much too strong for her. She can't go any farther. I go limp with relief, and the Seekers manage to shove me to the sand._

_ She's sobbing, screaming my name, reaching for me. Her hair is sunlight, and I remember how I convinced her not to cut it because it was just too beautiful. She stretches her arms out toward me, as though they can somehow, impossibly, close the distance between us. The moonlight glows on her skin, highlighting her grayish silver eyes which are wide with panic._

_ She's beautiful, and I feel a sense of peace and calm even though I'm dying on the inside. The Seekers are taking me, but I have to tell her my last words._

_ "Wanda, I love you," I scream as they pull me away. "I WILL come back to you, I promise!"_

_ Tears run down her face as Melanie, Jared, and Jamie arrive. Kyle is staring me down, and I can see what he's saying, can read it in his eyes as he keeps Wanda from racing to me and getting captured herself. __**I will keep my promise to you. **__I know in that instant that I can trust my brother to keep her safe._

___Melanie, Jamie, Jared, and Kyle pull Wanda away, back toward the Jeep, and even though I'm fighting the Seekers as hard as I can, they're still winning. There are just too many of them._

_ Then one of them sprays something in my face, and the world begins to grow fuzzy and fade away at the edges. I look and see the Jeep roaring away across the sand, and I am relieved. They made it out. They're not going toward the caves—they're going in the opposite direction, and I know that they won't lead the Seekers to the others. They'll lose them and then loop around._

_ I see Wanda, leaning out the window, tears running down her face as she stretches out her hand toward me one more time, her hair whipping around as the Jeep roars away._

_ She's the last thing I see before everything goes black._

I gasped as the memory ends, panting hard. Everything was dark once again, and I was alone. I wasn't there in the desert, watching the beautiful girl ride away across the sands. She was so beautiful…so perfect.

Then I heard a voice.

_No, _it snarled. _Stop it._

I was astonished.

_Leave her alone!_

I didn't have time to process this before I heard other people in the room.

"Welcome, Bending Leaves."

Bending Leaves. That's right. That's my name. I was a Bear first, and then I was a Flower. My name is Bending Leaves. It wasn't the same on the Flower planet, but it is nice. I like it.

I found my eyes and managed to open them. There was a kind-looking Healer standing over me.

"I am Healer Fords Deep Waters," he said, smiling at me. "I trust your journey was pleasant."

"I trust it was, too," I answered, smiling. "I don't remember it."

He laughed, and it was a nice sound. "You have accessed speech. Did the memories go as planned?"

I shivered a little. "Yes," I said quietly. "Healer, they weren't…pleasant."

He put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "They usually aren't," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Bending Leaves. But it's a good thing. You can do your duty now."

I sat up, attentive at once. Souls are always doing what they need to do to help the community grow, expand, and perfect. I was eager to help. All of us were.

"We need information," he explained. "A soul has gone over to the human side, and we're doing our best to retrieve her. The human that you have inhabited was particularly close to this soul, and we're hoping you might find some information about her for us so that we can find her and save her."

"Yes," I agreed. "What is the name of the soul that you're looking for?"

The healer stared at me with a strange intensity.

"Her name," he said at last, "is Wanderer. You might know her as the soul called Wanda."

**Ooh! Cliffie. I've always thought about what would happen if a soul was put into Ian's body. What do you think? Should I continue or not? Review, please! I'd really like to know what you think!**

** Hostfanatic out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow!**

** I have to say, I am super happy about the amount of people who reviewed! That was just the first chapter! I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it. I got a lot out of your reviews.**

** Special note to Wildrose Sesshomaru: I totally don't think "What the heck, this is my story and if you don't like it then don't read it!" You actually gave me a ton of helpful tips, thank you so much! Glad you're enjoying it so far. P.S. There was a reason that the Seekers were only going after Ian! *winkwink* To be revealed later in the story.**

** To everyone—just leaving a story and not finishing it is NOT my style. I will get this one DONE!**

** And here's the next chapter.**

I sat on the cot, stunned, as the Healer's words echoed through my subconscious.

_The soul named Wanderer…you might see her as Wanda…_

Instantly, my mind returned to the tiny, golden-haired girl.

_No! NO! _the voice in my head howled. _LEAVE HER ALONE! Not Wanda! Not her!_

"Wanderer…" I murmured, pretending I didn't know what he was talking about.

_Yes! Yes! Pretend! Don't tell him! Don't!_

I stiffened in anger. This voice had no right to tell me what to do.

"Yes, I saw her in the memory," I said quietly. "She got away, along with three others named Jared, Jamie, and Melanie."

Then I noticed someone else in the room. I turned to see a tall blond woman standing in the corner, dressed in white. She had stiffened slightly when I said Melanie's name, and she looked conflicted for a moment. Then, though, her face smoothed into a welcoming expression when she noticed that I was watching her.

"Welcome to Earth, Bending Leaves," she said warmly, and I smiled at her somewhat nervously.

"You do approve of that name, no?" she asked me quickly. "We had been tracking your existence as a flower, and that was your name there. We thought that you might enjoy it here, as well."

"Oh, yes," I assured her quickly. "Yes, I'd like that to be my name here." And I did. I liked the sound of it. Bending Leaves. It fit. It was me.

_If you like "Bending Leaves" so much, then go back to the stinking Flowers, where you belong, _the voice snarled. _This isn't you. This is ME. You took this from me. I will get it back._

I blanched, and the Healer frowned.

"Is something wrong, Bending Leaves?" he asked me, and I quickly shook my head.

"No, Healer," I assured him. "I just have a headache."

"Abigail can take you to your place of residence," the Healer told me, gesturing to the tall woman in the corner. I blinked and realized for the first time that she was dressed all in white.

_Seeker. _The voice in my head sounded disgusted, spitting out the word like it was a curse.

"Oh," I said quickly. "Oh, hello, Seeker. Yes, I would appreciate that. I feel tired."

"That's perfectly acceptable," she told me, pulling out her handheld computer and quickly typing into it. "I can take you to your home."

Home. That was an odd word.

_This isn't your home. It belongs to the humans._

_**Why do you hate us so much? **_I wondered, bewildered at the anger and hostility radiating from him.

_You souls don't belong here. _He sighed, and for the first time, he didn't sound angry—he just sounded tired.

_**Oh…I see. **_I instantly felt sympathetic. _**You want to go home.**_

___I want my body back, _he snapped. _You could have taken any body but this one. All you souls are the same, aren't you?_

_**No, we're not. **_I was stung by his injustice.

_That's true, _he murmured, almost to himself. His thoughts returned to the girl. Wanda. Wanderer. The one I was supposed to turn in.

_**I should, **_I thought. _**If I can save her from those brutal humans, she might be able to come back to me. I could get to know her better…maybe even…**_

___NO! _the voice howled. _STOP IT! She's MINE!_

I winced, rubbing at my temples. _**All right, all right! Maybe not…for now.**_

___Not EVER! Leave her alone!_

I sighed and smiled at the Seeker's questioning look.

"Yes, let's go home," I said gratefully. "Do souls here have medicines for headaches?"

She smiled and told me about a few I could try as we walked out the door.

I got into her car, but my body had no memories about how to drive a small, fancy one like this. I remembered only one vehicle—a big Jeep, roaring across the sand…Ian—er, my body—had driven it out on raids. I remembered the green paint, the thick tires, Wanda's arm stretching out toward me…

_No. She was reaching for ME. You weren't even there. Please get your thoughts straight._

_**I'm sorry, **_I apologized, polite as all souls were. _**I don't mean to. Your memories have me all confused.**_

___Shall I straighten it out for you?_

I was launched into a memory again. I watched Ian and Wanda, hugging and crying, even though Wanda was in Melanie's body at the time…

Wait. Wanda in Melanie's body?

WHAM!

Ian slapped a thick black wall in front of that memory and focused on the other one instead. I was dragged back into it just in time to hear Wanda saying, _"I, the soul called Wanderer, love you, human Ian."_

Then he fast-forwarded, and they were kissing together. He was thinking about how wonderful it felt.

It grew too much to bear.

_**Stop it! Stop it! I get it, okay?**_

__Immediately, the memory halted and vanished. I was suddenly aware of just how powerful Ian was, lurking in the back of my mind.

Because I knew that it was Ian now. I could recognize the tone of his voice, the cadence. Besides, no one else but me heard him—who else could it be?  
_**Why are you here? **_I silently asked Ian, hoping that I could somehow convince him to leave.

He was quiet for a very long time.

_To keep a promise, _he finally replied.


	3. Chapter 3

** Here we are, the third chapter already!**

** I tried to make this one longer, because I got several requests in the reviews for longer chapters. Also, there are two things I want to quickly touch base on. The Seeker named Abigail isn't the same Seeker as in the real Host. She's a different one.**

** And when the words are italicized, it's Ian talking. If they're italicized and bolded, it's Bending Leaves.**

** 'Kay? Thanks!**

** Reviews, please!**

The Seekers were talking again.

I could hear them outside my door, whispering like they always did this late at night, when they thought I wasn't listening.

I winced, knowing what they were talking about.

Wanderer. Wanda.

Ian fidgeted, uncomfortable in the back of my head. He always did whenever I thought of Wanda, even though he thought about her nearly all the time.

It had been a long time since my insertion. Ian and I had many conversations. I tried a few times to rid him of my head, but he was just too strong.

I was beginning to grow slightly desperate, and debated telling other people about him, but I felt ashamed and weak to do so.

_I'm never going to leave, so you might as well get over it. Maybe you can take yourself out of me, or have someone else do it for you. This isn't yours._

I sighed. Ian sounded almost bored now, as though he was too tired of the same conversations over and over again.

_**This IS my body now.**_

___NO. It is NOT._

I cut off the argument before he could continue. Souls, by nature, were not controversial, but I couldn't help it sometimes.

I returned my attention to the drawing I was doing.

Ian sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at it for the first time.

It was a drawing of Wanda.

I outlined her bright, waving hair with a gold colored pencil, thickly outlined her eyes in pen to make the grayish silver stand out more. I carefully traced her nose, the shape of her face, her ears.

_Stop it,_ Ian snapped.

I paid no attention to him, carefully continuing my drawing. He may be depriving me of my peace of mind, but he could NOT tell me what to do.

_There's no point in drawing that. You're just giving yourself more heartache._

There _was_ a point in drawing it, but I knew that Ian would be upset, so I tried to use his walls, his defenses, to put up mental shields of my own.

Ian was perturbed by this, and he attempted to break through, but it didn't work. I still kept the wall clamped firmly into place.

He sighed.

I continued to draw, making him more and more annoyed and uncomfortable. He didn't like it when I drew her, talked about her, wrote about her, or even thought about her. He knew what I was thinking, too. That was the annoying part about having him in my head, always nagging me to stop thinking about her.

_**Wanderer…**_I sighed.

Ian was thinking about her, too. He was thinking about one of the stories she had told him and the others in the caves at lunchtime, and I marveled as he revealed exactly how many planets she'd been to.

_**She really is a wanderer, isn't she?**_

___Yes, _he agreed.

And while we were both thinking about her, almost on friendly terms, my wall slipped.

He gasped.

_NO!_

I winced and gripped the pencil tighter.

_You can't show that to the Seekers! You canNOT! They don't know she has a new body! They'll identify her! They'll catch her, they'll trap her, they'll…_His voice trailed off.

I winced at the thought, and then I realized that it was Ian wincing, not me.

Maybe I wanted her to get caught. I could meet her. We could be together. I'm sure they'd find some way to rescue her from the brutal humans.

_She could never love you! _His voice was agonized.

_**And why not? **_I demanded, losing patience at last. _**She's a soul! She's like me! We're both similar in so many ways. Why couldn't she ever love me?**_

__He was silent for a long time.

_Because she loves me, _he whispered at last, sounding sad and very small.

I sighed. I couldn't argue with him, not when he was like this.

_**Maybe there's some solution to the problem…**_

___I don't know if there is. _He sounded sad and defeated.

_**Ian, what's the matter?**_

___I…_He sighed. _I told her that I would come back. I PROMISED her. It's just that…how can I keep my promise when I'm stuck here, trapped in my own body? I can't control myself anymore. I obviously can't control YOU. I want to keep my promise more than anything, but I can't think of any way at all._

I sighed, too. I could see his dilemma, and I felt bad for him. But there was nothing I could do about it.

_You could…_His whisper was very faint, and I thought I'd imagined it for a moment.

I blinked and listened harder, but he was gone, retreating farther back into the corner of our mind where he belonged.

I shook my head to clear it and turned back to my drawing.

_NO! DON'T!_

"All right, all right! I won't show them!" I yelled.

_Destroy it! Please destroy it! They'll find it! _For the first time, he wasn't ordering me to do something…he was begging, which was almost worse, in a way.

I sighed and folded the top of my sketchpad back over. I was done with the drawing.

"I'm not going to destroy it," I said crossly. "I like this drawing."

_You SHOULDN'T._

"Well, I do." I was exasperated. "I won't let them see it, honestly."

I put the pad in the secret compartment in the wall that I had found months ago.

Ian was sad as he realized how much time had gone by since he had been taken. How much time had gone by since he'd seen Wanda, really. Almost a year had passed.

I sighed, too. _**A year and a half, **_I quietly corrected.

He was abruptly aghast. _No!_

_**Yes…**_I was confused. I knew that he loved Wanderer, but I didn't understand why he was so horrified.

He abruptly slapped the wall back into place and retreated into his corner. Something was bothering him…something that was a lot more important than JUST Wanda.

I puzzled over this as I got ready for bed.

_What could be more important to him than Wanda?_

"And you're sure there's nothing new?"

"I'm very sorry, Seeker. Ia—er—my body is protecting is memories well, it appears."

I almost slipped and used Ian's name, a sure sign that something was going on. The Seeker's blue eyes pierced me, and I gazed back at her. Eye contact was crucial when you were trying to lie to someone—not that I'd had a lot of experience. Ian had, though.

She looked away after a moment, and I dropped my gaze to the table.

"Is something wrong with me, Seeker?" I asked quietly. It wasn't Ian lying this time—this question was all mine. Something had to be wrong. Why else would I be talking to this human? Why else would he even be here, in this body, with me?

She smiled fondly at me. "No, Bending Leaves, nothing is wrong with you. It is to be expected that these memories are going to be hard to access." She sighed, though, and I knew that she was frustrated, a rare emotion for a soul. "Nothing at all? No locations? No relations? No information on…on Wanderer?"

She said the last name in almost a half-whisper, and I looked at her, a little confused. Was she…_afraid _of Wanda?

She smiled at me. "It's just crucial that we get her back," she explained.

"I understand, Seeker. Truly, I wish I could be of more assistance to you."

The Seeker sighed. "You're doing the best that you can, and I suppose I should thank you for that," she said after a moment, pushing herself off of her chair. It had been another two months, and I was getting a little exasperated with her pushiness and her questions. We had what I'd begun to call "Information Sessions" once a week, and I didn't like them. We basically sat in a room and she questioned me and Ian lied for me until it was time to go.

The truth was that I had plenty of new information that Ian had let out little by little—all accidents, of course, because he was trying to hide everything from me. I knew a lot about Jared, Jamie, and Melanie. I knew some about Doc, but not a lot. I knew a lot about his brother Kyle, and when I found out he had a brother, it was when I stopped telling the Seeker things. Ian began to lie through my lips. It didn't feel right, but telling her about Wanda, about Kyle, about all the others, felt even worse.

"Seeker," I spoke hesitantly. If I couldn't tell her about what I know, at least I could say something about what I didn't. "There is a particularly…strong memory. This human cared quite a bit about it…it seems as though it would be important. But…I can't access it."

Her eyes were bright in an instant, and she was leaning over the desk. "What is it?" she asked eagerly. "Does it have something to do with the others? Wanderer? What is it?"

"I…don't…" My words were halting as I tried to get around Ian's barrier. Now that I had remembered it, my curiosity had ignited again.

Ian, however, stubbornly refused to move his wall even an inch.

After struggling for a moment more, I exhaled and gave up. "I'm sorry, Seeker. I can't find what he's hiding from me."

I froze.

I had slipped up, used the present tense.

She stared at me, looking speculative for a moment.

"I will keep trying, though," I said quietly.

She looked alarmed, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Then her expression smoothed out.

"Of course," she said, nodding. "Thank you for trying, Bending Leaves. You are free to go."

I stood up and exited the room.

Outside in the crisp, cool air, I walked briskly down the street, nodding and smiling at other souls who passed me. Really, though, I was fighting to get around Ian.

_You might as well just give up now. I'm not going to let you in._

_**One day, you'll let down your guard, and I'll figure out what you're hiding from me.**_

___Not likely._

Sighing, I gave up again. Anger was a rare emotion for me, and when I did feel it, it usually just fell back to frustration.

_If you left, you wouldn't have to deal with this kind of stress._

_**If I left, they would kill you.**_

___I thought that you guys NEEDED me, _he simpered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

_**All right, they'd put a Seeker in you first, and THEN they'd kill you.**_

__He let it go almost instantly, and I saw for the first time how much he really wanted to live. The conversation had brought his determination back up again, and he began to think of ways to get out of his predicament.

_**Ian, it's been a year and a half, **_I told him sadly. _**I understand your predicament, but if we haven't figured out a solution by now, I don't think that one is just going to present itself.**_

___I know…I know._

I sighed. I had been sighing a lot lately. Earth was so much more complicated than any of my other planets.

Ian and I had inadvertently been growing closer. We were like brothers—we argued a lot, but there were times when we were on good terms, friendly terms. I was starting to enjoy his company once in a while.

That didn't mean I wanted him to stay in my head, though.

Did it?


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow! Chapter four already! This story is coming along pretty well—better than I thought it would, anyway. Thanks to all the people who reviewed—I really appreciated it!**

** Anyway, here's chapter four. Hope you enjoy! Tips? Suggestions? Review, please!**

_Two…whole…years…_Ian sounded faint and disbelieving in the back of my head.

I sighed. With every day that passed, it felt like he was getting weaker.

Was Ian dying?

_I'm dying to be back with her. It kills me not to be. It's been two years…_

"I know, I know!" I shouted aloud, holding my head in my hands. "I know that it's killing you, and now it's killing me, too! Are you happy? What do you want me to do?"

He was silent.

"Bending Leaves, souls are supposed to be honest with one another."

I looked the Seeker straight in the eye and tried not to fidget. I'd known something was up the minute she called me here early.

"It has been a very long time since you've had any new information, Bending Leaves," she said matter-of-factly.

I sighed. "I know, Seeker," I said quietly.

"Bending Leaves, is there something that you're not telling us?"

It took all my willpower not to flinch.

In half an instant, I considered telling her everything. Telling her about Melanie, Jared, Jamie, Jeb, Kyle, Sunny, and everything I knew about Wanderer. Tell her that Ian was still there in my head, making life nearly unbearable because he was so sad. She would take me out and put me in a new human. I would be safe and free. My head would just have me in it—no one else.

_NO. _Ian was instantly alive and strong again—and he was furious. _Do NOT tell her. You promised me. You promised. You can't betray them._

I was so frustrated that I looked up at the Seeker. What came out of me was nearly a yell.

"Don't you think I would have told you if I'd come up with something new, Seeker? Souls don't lie to one another! That isn't our way of life! We are honest, and the fact that you are accusing me of being dishonest is hurtful, and downright rude!"

She flinched back, looking at me with wide blue eyes that were ringed with silver. I saw myself reflected in them, and I looked terrible.

I shoved myself off the chair and stormed out of the room.

Outside on the sidewalk, I took deep breaths of air, trying to clear my mind. Trying to get Ian out of it, really.

_What do you expect me to do? Do you want me to just leave? I can't. I promised her. I promised._

_**I get it! **_I was barely able to keep from shrieking the words aloud. _**I get it, all right? I do. Your love and passion for her is making MY life unbearable! Don't you GET IT? I'M FALLING IN LOVE WITH HER, TOO!**_

__Ian, absolutely stunned, was dead silent.

I got to my house, threw the door open, and stormed inside. I headed straight to my room and collapsed on the bed.

_**If that's all it takes to get you to shut up, maybe I should say it more often, **_I thought viciously.

I began to think about her. I thought about her voice, the way her eyes sparkled, how kind and unselfish she was. I thought about her hair, how it was beautiful and how she had wanted to cut it all off. I thought about her round, open, honest face, and the kindness in it made me want to cry.

I thought about her voice, her lips, her touch, her every breath. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Wanderer. Wanda. Wanderer.

I don't know when I fell asleep and when it turned into a dream, but I didn't care. Nothing changed. She was still there in my dreams, bright, full of life and light. Her skin, her face, her eyes, her blush, her hair, her stutter and her giggle when she was shy, her kindness, her honesty, her love for others even though they might have hated her.

Exhausted, at the very end of the day, I snapped my eyes open, gasping. I had practically run out of thoughts.

I stopped and listened. For the first time in so many hours, it was quiet.

I looked for Ian, startled. Where was he?

When I finally found him, he was curled up tightly in the corner of our mind. I frowned and tried to stir him, but he was in absolute agony.

I sat back on the bed, stunned and feeling guiltier than I ever had in my life. I had yelled at Ian. I had sat here for hours and thought those thoughts that made him nearly insane with the pain and grief that came from missing the girl that he loved. I was torturing him, and I was doing it on purpose.

What kind of a soul was I? You weren't supposed to get angry. I had been furious with him. We were kind to others—we never yelled. I hadn't been very kind at all, and I had yelled a LOT. I had put him through so much pain.

_**Ian…**_My voice was weak. _**Ian, I'm so sorry.**_

__He didn't respond.

_**Ian, please forgive me, **_I begged. _**I don't know what came over me. I never meant to hurt you, especially not that much. Please, Ian. Please.**_

___It…hurts…so…bad._ Every word that came from him was nearly a whimper. _I didn't expect it to hurt this badly._

I felt his shame and knew that he didn't like revealing weakness in front of me.

_**You love her, **_I whispered. _**Of course it hurts to be away from her.**_

___You love her, too, and it's hurting you, _he murmured, and I felt the pain that went through his heart when he said that. _It hurt you so much that you lashed out at me, because it was the only thing that you COULD do. I understand. I've done it before._

Ian didn't straight-out _say _"I forgive you," but I felt the forgiveness coming from him. He wasn't really a man who wore his heart on his sleeve.

_**Ian…Ian, we have to do something. This…we can't live with this. This is killing us both. There's got to be something that we can do.**_

___I don't know that there is, _he sighed.

We were both silent for a long time.

_You must have really been out of it, _he said suddenly. _The phone was ringing a lot when you were…er…thinking._

I blinked and looked over. The phone, indeed, had been ringing a lot. There were five missed calls and one voicemail.

I listened to it.

"Oh, no," I murmured. I pulled myself off the bed and ran to grab a suitcase. I began to stuff some clothes into it.

_What's the matter? _Ian asked. _Who's Bending Petals?_

_**I…it's a bit complicated.**_

___Is she your sister?_

I sighed as I ran to the bathroom to grab some toiletries. _**We souls don't have the same relationships as you do, so it isn't quite the same.**_

_ But you are related._

_**We came from the same mother, yes, but something…unusual happened with the two of us. It wasn't quite natural…do you know about the birthing process?**_

_ Yes, Wanda told me about it. Souls sort of…split all their cells apart._

_**That's right. But when this particular mother split apart, one of her cells broke in half. One half of that cell became me, and the other half became her.**_

___Interesting. _I could tell that Ian actually was interested.

_**Yes. We moved to the Flower planet together after we were both born. It was our first planet…our only planet, actually. After that, though, she moved after two life terms. I left after three. I thought she was going to the Bears. I guess not. I guess she wound up here.**_

___And what's the matter with her again?_

_**She's…sort of sick. It's an odd sort of sickness, and we think it might have something to do with us both being from the same cell of our mother. This happened on the Flower planet, and we had to use a special herbal medicine to fix it. I'm the only one that knows about it, so they're calling me to come down to New Mexico where she's living now and tell them.**_

__Suddenly, a little flame, a spark, of interest ignited in Ian.

_Huh. Er…what part of New Mexico?_

I frowned uncertainly, wondering why he cared. _**Um…Moriarty, I think is what they said.**_

__The spark flared higher, and he tried hard to squelch it.

_**Ian, what's the matter with you? What are you hiding from me?**_

___I can't tell you about it, _Ian said after a pause.

_**Now THAT'S just not fair.**_

___Listen, Bending Leaves, I'm sorry. Truly, I am. We've sort of become…friends, and I really do want to tell you. But if you care about Wanda, about Kyle and Doc, Melanie, Jamie, Jared…if you care about any of them at all, then you'll understand that I can't tell you._

I growled incomprehensibly. That wasn't fair. He knew that I cared about them, all of them, which was why he had chosen to play that card.

I finished packing and hurried over to my computer. After a click of a few buttons, I was at my E-mail and had started a new one to the Seeker.

I have been called away on urgent business. It involves a close relation of mine. I will be back as soon as I can. She is sick, and I have the medicine formula that can help her; it's saved here on my computer. I have no new information, but perhaps a change in scenery would help things along.

Bending Leaves

I sent the E-mail. That done, I stood up and grabbed my suitcase with my things in it.

I made sure to pack my sketchpad—I didn't want her to find it while I was away.

Then I grabbed the car keys and ran out of the house. I put my suitcase in the trunk, climbed into my car, and started the engine.

Again, I felt the excitement coming from Ian, and I frowned, confused. Why was he so excited about Moriarty, New Mexico?

I didn't know. But I had a feeling that I would be finding out soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow! Wow, wow, wow!**

** Thank you all so much for reviewing. I really appreciate it, guys. This story is really coming along well.**

** Here's chapter five for you. What do you think is gonna happen?**

** P.S. Coming up in the next few chapters will be other POVS besides Bending Leaves'. The reason I haven't done this yet is because Bending Leaves is sort of the only person in the story yet, besides Ian. But it's a little hard to do one for Ian because he's not doing anything. He's just trapped in a body, y'know?**

** Anyway, enjoy! This chapter is kind of shorter, but the next one should be longer than this.**

I drove carefully down the deserted desert road. We were in one of the smaller towns in New Mexico, in the desert land.

Ian was remembering conversations that Wanda had had with him. She talked about how the same thing had happened to her and Melanie, which is what first made her go off the road and search for the humans.

_**I'm beginning to see some striking similarities between our situation and theirs, **_I said wryly.

_Heard that, _Ian agreed. _But it wasn't so long for them…_

He sighed. _Two years. Two years I've been away from her, Bending Leaves. That's a LONG TIME._

_**Believe me, **_I muttered. _**I know.**_

__We drove in silence for a while longer. That's when I realized that he'd actually used my name.

Ian suddenly plunged into a memory. I blinked, caught off guard.

_I grit my teeth as I hear them coming. They're laughing and talking to one another, sounding as though they're having the time of their lives._

_ What is she talking about with him?_

_ "Thanks, Burns," I hear her say as they round the corner. "I really had to talk to someone about that…I'm glad I understand it now."_

_ I clench my fist. Why can't she talk to ME about it? I thought she could talk to me about anything. Couldn't she?_

_**Don't be jealous, **__I try to remind myself, but it's hard not to be jealous with them flirting around all day._

_ "Bye," I hear her say._

_ The door slides open, and she steps in. Even though I am jealous and annoyed, I can't help but marvel at how beautiful she is. Her hair bounces, the moonlight glows on her skin, and her eyes are wide and sparkling._

_ "Oh," she exclaims. "Ian, I didn't know you were still awake."_

_ I shrug. "I was worried about you," I say quietly. "You were gone for a long time."_

_ She smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ian. Burns and I were just talking, and we lost track of time." She comes over to sit beside me on the mattress._

_**I'm sure THAT'S all, **__I want to mutter, but I hold back. I know that wouldn't be appropriate._

_ She sighs and tries to take my hand, just like she always does, but it's still clenched into a fist._

_ She draws hers back and stares at it for a moment._

_ "Ian, what's the matter?" she says gently._

_ "Nothing," I mutter. I don't want to tell her. It's stupid and petty._

_ She sighs. "Ian, talk to me."_

_**That's rich, coming from YOU, **__I think._

_ "If you're having communication problems, why don't you go and talk to __**Burns **__about it?" I grumble, rolling over to lie down on the mattress._

_ She freezes._

_ Oops. She wasn't supposed to hear me._

_ "Is THAT what's bothering you?" she wants to know._

_ "No," I mutter. "You're perfectly welcome to talk to whoever you like."_

_ She's quiet for a moment more, probably analyzing my face like she always does when I don't give her answers._

_ "Oh, Ian," she sighs, and then she's next to me, curled up against me. The motion is so comforting, so familiar, that I can't help but wrap my arms around her and pull her closer._

_ "Ian, Burns is just a friend," she says firmly, looking at me._

_ There is nothing but absolute truth in her eyes._

_ "I love __**you," **__she continues, hugging me tightly. "You're my partner. My soul mate, if you'll excuse the pun."_

_ I smile._

_ "And there isn't anything in this world, or any of the others, that can change that."_

_ I feel much more relieved, but still a bit petty._

_ "So what were you talking to him about that you couldn't talk to ME about?" I ask her, the words coming out a bit louder and half-annoyed._

_ She flushes a bright red and stares at the mattress._

_ "It was…it was nothing," she stutters. "I was just…the reason I didn't ask you is because it was a soul thing, and I didn't think you would have known the answer. I was going to ask you next, though, if Burns didn't know…"_

_ I sigh. Now I'm curious._

_ "Wanda, please tell me," I beg, looking straight into her eyes. She always talks to me when I do that._

_ She stares at them for a moment, looking bemused, and then blushes more and looks back at the ground._

_ "I was…well…I wanted to ask him about…er…fertility." It's almost a whisper as she ducks her head. Her face is flaming red, and mine begins to grow red, too._

_ "Oh." My tone is completely different now._

_ We're silent for a moment, and then I see the tears slipping down her cheeks._

_ Sighing, I pull her closer. "Oh, Wanda, don't be embarrassed. It's a part of life, and it's natural to be curious about it."_

_ She smiles a little bit._

_ "It's all right," I continue gently. "We have all the time in the world to think about that sort of thing, don't we?"_

_ "Yes," she agrees. "You're right."_

_ Sighing, she curls up closer to me._

_ "Goodnight, Ian," she murmurs. "I love you." She smiles. "Always have, always will."_

_ "I love you, too," I whisper._

_ Soon, she's asleep, and I'm left laughing at my stupidity._

In that instant, his shield slipped just the tiniest bit.

I pounced eagerly, fighting to get through it. I was only able to get one tiny snatch of information before the wall slammed closed again.

_**It's got something to do with…Jamie?**_

___I could have been faking that, _Ian sniffed. _It could have nothing to do with Jamie at all._

I'm left to ponder this new bit of information as we continue to drive.

Then Ian gasps as he sees a rock formation to the left of us.

Ian rears up in my head, stronger than I thought he was. I fall back, alarmed and frightened.

Everything goes black.


	6. Chapter 6

** Sorry to leave you there in the last chapter! I'm all about the cliffhangers ;) Sorry it was such a short chapter last time. This one should be longer.**

** Reviews, please!**

** Enjoy!**

The first thing I felt was a considerable pain.

"Aah…" I groaned, pressing a hand to my head. It throbbed horribly, and I cringed.

_Bending Leaves! Bending Leaves, wake up!_

"I-Ian?" I croaked, trying to find my eyes so that I could open them. "What…what happened? Where are we?"

_I don't know what happened, _he insisted. _We were driving along just fine, and then you blacked out. The car…well, open your eyes._

I managed to do so, but it was hard work, prying them open. They were gritty and crusty, almost stuck together completely.

I finally managed to get my lids apart, and sharp sunlight stabbed at my eyes. I instantly closed them again, wincing in pain.

_Sunglasses. They're in the glove compartment._

I fumbled blindly at the latch to the glove compartment. Ian helped guide my hand to grab the sunglasses and put them on my face.

I managed to open my eyes again and looked around.

The car was upside-down, battered, crushed, and wrecked. My legs were stuck under the dashboard, but it was a good thing my seatbelt had been in.

_Are you hurt? _Ian was ever-practical.

I tested all over. My head hurt badly, and my hair was matted with dried blood. I tried my legs and arms, but they seemed all right. Nothing broken, at least.

"It's a miracle," I rasped aloud, "but I don't think I'm hurt too badly. Might have a concussion, though. Everything else seems fine."

_The car just went out of control. I don't know what happened._

"It's all right," I croaked. My voice sounded horrible.

_Okay. Can you get yourself out of the car?_

"My legs are stuck," I explained, tugging at them.

_Okay. First, you have to get yourself out of the seatbelt._

I did so, clinging to the top of the car to prevent myself from falling flat on the floor—er, ceiling—of the car.

_Now swing your legs out from under the dashboard and lower yourself down._

I did so, managing to land on shaky legs.

_Now you just need to open the door and crawl out._

I had to twist my arm in an odd manner, but I managed to open the door and crawl out onto the desert sand.

_Wait. Go back in quickly. You have two water bottles in the glove compartment._

I crawled in and retrieved the water. I wasn't feeling too thirsty, so I pushed them into my pockets for later.

_Good move. Now, where's the nearest town or civilization? We have to make it back before we run out of water._

"I don't know," I said numbly. I had forgotten how to communicate mentally with him.

_What about the rendezvous point?_

"Rendezvous point?"

_Didn't anyone tell you? Wanda told a story about it once. In every desert, there's a rendezvous point that you can go to in case you get lost. If you're hiking in the mountains or the desert or whatever. The Seekers come by and pick you up. Wanda had to use one around here once. Moriarty. I think the Seekers check them every three days or so._

"Do you know where it is? I don't."

_Yes, I'll show you. You're going to have to start walking._

So I did.

_**Hours Later**_

_**How…much…farther? **_I managed to gasp. I had remembered how to speak mentally after I'd gotten too tired to speak aloud.

_Not much. Do you want a drink now?_

_**No, **_I huffed. I hadn't taken one drink of water yet. _**I'll…need…it…later.**_

__Every swallow was painful.

_I think you need some now, Bending Leaves, _Ian insisted. _Not a lot; just a few sips._

I stumbled to a halt and took a few sips.

_That's it. Keep walking._

Somehow, I trudged forward again, stumbling across the uneven sands.

_THERE!_

I stopped and looked up. There was a tiny, scraggly tree with a large, flat rock next to it. I stumbled forward and collapsed against the tree.

_Someone will find us soon._

I fell into a half-dazed state, not sure if I was sleeping, not sure if I was awake. Everything drifted in and out of focus. I thought about a lot of things. I thought about Wanda. I thought about Kyle. I thought about Melanie, Jamie, and Jared. I thought about Trudy, Lily, Geoffrey, Heath, Doc, Jeb, and all the others.

I was through one full water bottle when night fell.

_**Where are they? **_I demanded Ian.

He started. _Huh? How do you know about them?_

I was confused. _**The Seekers?**_

__He was sluggish for a moment until he finally realized what I was talking about. _What…the…oh, the Seekers. I told you, Bending Leaves, they only check these points every three days or so. They're probably still coming._

I sighed and tried to sleep.

Instead, I sank back into the half-awake, half-asleep state, not really sure what was going on or who I was or where I had been.

Then two sharp metallic clicks interrupted my stupor. I blinked, dazed and disoriented, because I didn't know the noise.

Ian did, however.

_A gun. Someone just cocked a gun._

I was up and alert in an instant, trying to see through the dark. I had pulled off my sunglasses long ago.

"Don't move." The voice came from somewhere ahead in the darkness, and I winced, trying to figure out who was talking.

_**Ian, what do we do? **_I panicked.

_Just calm down. _He didn't seem scared at all, strangely. Had he been expecting this?

Then there was a stifled gasp.

"No freaking way," I heard someone say in a low voice.

I knew that voice.

"Kyle?" I croaked, feeling afraid.

"Ian," I heard him whisper, sounding afraid and disbelieving and incredibly hopeful, all at once.

My heart sank.

"No," I whispered back, shaking my head and trying to keep the tears from my eyes. "No, I'm not."

The glare of a flashlight blinded me, and there was a low gasp as light from my reflective eyes bounced across the sand.

"Oh, no," I heard another voice moan. It sounded like…Jamie?

"What do we do now?" another voice asked, sounding exasperated and very, very tired.

There was a long silence as I tried to stay as still as possible.

"Okay," someone said at last. Jared. "I know that we weren't expecting this, people."

"Understatement," I heard a female voice grumble. Maybe Melanie?

"But we found him, so we have to take him back with us." A tall, lean form stepped out of the darkness and into the ring of light from the flashlight so that I could see him.

He crouched next to me. It was Jared.

"What's your name?" he asked me. His tone wasn't unkind, but it wasn't kind, either.

"Bending Leaves," I whispered. "You…you're Jared."

"Yes, I am. You're going to have to come with us, Bending Leaves."

_Yes! _Ian said eagerly at the same time I yelled, _**NO!**_

___Bending Leaves? _He sounded alarmed. _What's the problem?_

_**I'm not going into that cave with a bunch of humans! I thought you said the Seekers were coming.**_

___I…um…_

Then one of the walls he'd made slipped. It wasn't his big secret, but it was another secret altogether.

I gasped. _**You planned this! **_I screeched. _**You led me here on purpose! Seekers weren't coming! There's no such thing as these rendezvous points! You made the entire thing up! You knew that these humans were coming. You set me up!**_

___I had to, _he said desperately. _Please, just go for a little while, and then you can leave. We don't need to stay. I just need to see them. I need to make sure they're doing all right._

_**Oh, come off it, Ian, do you really think they're going to let us go now?!**_

___Well, they've got a gun pointed at us, so we don't have many options right now!_

I got shakily to my feet.

"We're going to have to blindfold you," Jared continued somewhat apologetically.

"Okay," I whispered.

"We'll do it when we get to the Jeep," Kyle said suddenly.

"We don't want him to identify the Jeep, idiot!" another voice hissed.

"I've already seen the Jeep," I said quickly. "From Ian—from his memories. So I guess it doesn't really matter."

"Fine," I heard, and then we were walking.

Jared was behind me. Kyle and a smaller figure that I thought might have been Jamie were on either side of me. Two people who sounded like Melanie and Jeb were in the front. Jeb was holding the gun. I was surrounded on all sides, and they had weapons.

I was terrified.

We got to the Jeep, and I climbed into the back of it. They blindfolded me, and I was careful not to move or fight them.

Then Melanie, Jamie, and Jared got into the backseat. Jeb and Kyle were in the front.

With a stomp on the gas pedal, they were off.

_It will be okay, _Ian tried to reassure me.

_**Give me one good reason to trust you! **_I yelled at him. I couldn't help it—I got cranky when I was scared.

_Look, you don't have to stay. I just HAVE to know that they're all right. Besides, maybe they'll think of a solution to our problem._

_**I don't want to leave, Ian…**_

___I don't know what to tell you, Bending Leaves. You're one of the nicer souls. I really hope that we can find a way to let you stay._

_**Oh, THAT'S comforting.**_

___You'll be fine. Ever since Wanda, we've been a lot nicer to souls that we find. They'll treat you right, I promise._

_**Ian, I'm scared. I don't want to do this.**_

___But you get to see Kyle. And Jamie and Mel and Jared. And when you get there…we might be able to see Wanda…_

My heart leaped at this idea.

_Calm down. I said MIGHT._

_**What do you mean?**_

__I heard them talking in quiet voice, obviously thinking that I couldn't hear them.

"I don't believe this."

"Two years…"

"It's closer to two and a half, actually."

"I never thought that we'd see him again."

"What are we going to do?"

"We've got to get the soul out…"

I shivered.

"But what if he gives us problems?"

"Yeah, remember Sunny?"

"How can we forget Sunny? She lives with us." That was Melanie.

"But we can't just leave him in there! We need Ian!"

"Ian might not want to let us ship the soul off," Melanie interrupted. "If it's anything like Wanda and I, they're already starting to become friends. What are we going to do then?"

Silence.

"But more than that," Jamie said very quietly after awhile. "What are we going to do about…_Wanda?"_

He whispered the last word.

_Ahh, Wanda, _Ian moaned.

I sighed. It hurt so badly. It was nearly double the pain for both of us, because we had to bear our own and the other's.

"I don't know," Melanie sighed. "Would it be better to tell her, or worse?"

They were quiet for a moment.

"I think that we should tell her," Jamie said at last, "but we'll tell her _gently. _My assumption is that we'll put him in the storage hole again, like we always do whenever a soul comes, and we can take her to him later."

"Are you sure it isn't better to shield her?" asked Melanie quietly.

"If we don't tell her, then she'll eventually find out herself, and THAT will be much worse," Jared put in grimly. "Remember when she found out about the…the soul-removal attempts?"

They were all silent for a long time.

"Yeah, that was bad," Jeb said bluntly.

I cringed as Ian recalled the memories.

_We weren't trying to kill anyone, _he said sadly.

I shied away from the grim memories and tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

"What do you think, Kyle?" Jared asked at last. Kyle hadn't spoken at all.

He was silent for awhile longer.

"I promised my brother I'd take care of her," he said at last in a low voice. "I'll do whatever you think is best. Especially under the…the circumstances."

I frowned. Circumstances?

Ian must have been nervous. His shield slipped ever so slightly, and I got the feeling, again, that it had something to do with Jamie…

He quickly jammed his wall back into place.

I sighed. _**All right, then, if you're going to remain to be stubborn, then tell me where we're going.**_

___I can't tell you the location of the caves. All I can say is that we're going to be traveling for some time. A day, at least._

_**It's like you don't trust me.**_

___For the sake of the other humans, I CAN'T trust you. I'm sorry._

_**Sure you are.**_ My voice was heavy with sarcasm.

We kept driving. I must have fallen asleep at some point, but I couldn't remember when.

I dreamed about Wanderer, again, as usual. I always dreamt of her. I thought of her in the caves, working and smiling and sleeping and dreaming.

We drove for hours, not stopping. I woke up and fell asleep again and again.

It must have been at least fifteen hours before we finally stopped.

I blinked the grogginess from my eyes. Something had changed, but I didn't know what.

_We're not moving anymore. We must be at the other cave…_

_**Other cave?**_

___It's where we keep the Jeep and a few other things. If the Seekers find them, they won't find the main caves. We're going to have to walk blind for awhile._

Sure enough, I felt a hand on my arm, guiding me out of the Jeep.

"We're going to be walking for a little bit, Ia—er—Bending Leaves," I heard Kyle mutter. "Hope you don't mind being blindfolded for a bit longer."

"No, I understand," I said quietly.

And so we set off, beginning to walk. I could hear them in front of me, next to me, and behind me, just like before. I tried hard to stay just in one place and not hurt anyone else.

I could feel angry, hostile vibes radiating from Kyle, and I knew that he didn't like me very much.

I could understand it, though. I had taken his brother away. For all he knew, Ian was just dead, not still remaining in my head. I could tell that Kyle was trying to be at least diplomatic about it, but he wasn't succeeding.

I couldn't see a thing, and I accidentally wobbled a little, caught off guard. I knocked into someone, and then I realized that it was Kyle.

He jerked back as though I were poison.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, pulling away.

He didn't respond.

We were silent for a long time. I trudged across the rough desert sands, feeling thirsty.

_You've got a full water bottle in your pocket, _Ian reminded me.

_**Well, I'm not about to whip it out NOW.**_

___Fair point…_

Ian tried to block how much he remembered every step we were taking. Even blindfolded, he knew where we were and where we were going. I tried hard not to listen to him.

After a long time, the air grew cooler, and my foot landed on something hard instead of the sand. I knew that we were in the caves, but I tried to pretend that I didn't know.

After several crazy twists and turns in the dark, they took the blindfold off. I blinked a little, but I still couldn't see anything.

Ian recognized it, though. _We're heading for the wheat fields._

Sure enough, after another turn or two, there was a light at the end of the hallway. I squinted as it got closer and closer, and then we stepped into the main plaza.

There were a lot of people there, and I recognized many of the faces. They were all silent at once.

I stared at the faces as they looked at me. First there was shock, then recognition, and then hope and joy. Then they saw the shimmering lines of the soul behind my eyes, and the happiness turned into anger, sadness, and astonishment.

Suddenly, there was a loud clang that echoed throughout the room. Everyone turned to see a figure standing only a few feet away from me.

There were several low gasps, and I heard Jamie mutter, "Aw, crap."

The clang had been the figure dropping her scythe. I stared into her eyes and felt my heart instantly begin to start pounding harder and harder.

Her eyes, her wide gray eyes. Her golden hair, flying everywhere. Her cherry-colored lips, her small nose, her round face.

Her lips trembled as she stared at me.

"Ian," she cried as my knees went weak.

Ian, in my head, burst into exultant life. I could only stare in shock.

"Wanda," we whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Heeeeeey! :D another cliffie…I know, I'm mean. But it keeps you on your toes! Keeps your heart in shape. Hope you enjoy the seventh chapter!**

Ian fought.

It was so hard to contain him. He was much stronger than I thought he was, and it took everything I had to keep him contained. He was fighting as hard as he could, every piece of him telling me to get closer to that girl, to hug her and take her in my arms. His arms.

_**Stop it, you idiot, she doesn't know that you're in here!**_

__The shame was so sickening as she stared at me, hopeful, that I had to look down at the ground.

She ran toward me, but suddenly Kyle was there, holding her back. I was glad for Kyle. I didn't want to hurt Wanda.

"That's not Ian, Wanda," he said harshly.

"Yes, it is!" she cried, her voice echoing in the absolutely silent room. "He promised me!"

"Wanda, _look at it," _Kyle yelled. "Look at it and see what they did to the man that you love."

She froze at his words. Slowly, her eyes traveled up to my face, and then they locked with my eyes.

She was absolutely still and silent. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

Then she burst into tears.

"No, no, no," she whimpered over and over again, sinking to her knees. "Ian…Ian…"

Melanie rushed forward and enveloped Wanda in a hug. She shot a ferocious glare at me, and I cringed back as Wanda sobbed into Melanie's shoulder.

"It's okay, Wanda," she murmured. "We'll figure something out…"

I heard the slightest rustle in the wheat to my left, but when I turned, nothing was there.

Spooked, I turned back to Wanda, feeling helpless.

Ian was writhing in pain. Wanda, his Wanda, was just a few feet away, and she was in pain. She was in agony. And there was nothing he could do to help her.

Suddenly, Wanda sat up. She stared frantically at Trudy.

Trudy?

"Wait," she cried. "Trudy, where's…"

Trudy let out a gasp of horror.

Wanda stared at her for a long second. Then, to my horror, her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped to the floor.

In half an instant, the silence turned into pandemonium. Jamie let out a cry of horror and rushed forward. Jared followed him, looking worried. Kyle knelt frantically at her side, trying to wake her up. Everyone in the cavern was yelling and talking at the same time.

"Wanda!" Ian screamed through my lips, trying to rush to her. He pulled our legs forward at the same time I tried to hold them in place, resulting in me falling to my knees.

Melanie stared at me, one eyebrow raised, speculative. I tried to look concerned for Wanda and like it was a completely natural thing to do to make random outbursts and then fall over.

Suddenly, Kyle was there, lifting Wanda up into his arms.

"Trudy, Mel," he called, and they both hurried out after him.

It grew quieter, but the air was filled with angry murmurs.

"Come with me," Jared said quietly to me, and I followed him.

I knew where we were going, so it was no surprise when we got to the storage hole.

"You don't have to go in it or anything," he said quickly. "Just…"

"That's fine," I interrupted in the quietest voice I could manage. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." I sat down and leaned against the wall just outside the hole.

He hesitated. "I'll be right back," he said after a moment. "Are you sure…"

"I won't leave," I whispered. "I don't know the way, anyway. These memories were blocked, and I don't know the caves very well."

Jared stared at me for a second, and then he hurried out the door.

_Yes, you do know where the exit is._

_**And I am undoubtedly going to use it as soon as we get a game plan, Ian. I can't just go charging out there. For one thing, if I can't do it right, the humans will come after me, and then probably shoot me…**_

___They won't shoot you if they need me. _

_** That's true. So they'll just find me and drag me back here. They've got a JEEP. I've got LEGS. Do the math.**_

___Fair point…_

_**And I can't just go wandering out in the desert without directions and a sense of where I'm going. And I'd need water. If I don't, it just might turn out worse than when we were brought in here.**_

___Yeah…I guess you're right._

_**Top that all out with the fact that I don't want the Seekers to find this place, I'm guessing that I have to leave "incognito" so that they don't just follow my trail right back to the caves.**_

___Man, you're thinking of everything here._

_**And finally, I'm not leaving until I make sure that Wanda's okay.**_

__Ian grimaced at that, but I knew that he wasn't going to be leaving until he found out that she was okay, too.

_**And P.S.? I'd suggest you don't randomly go charging off to Wanda and doing spontaneous acts of affection when people think that it's ME in here.**_

___I did not go charging off!_

_**You ALMOST did.**_

___She was hurt. Or dead. That's a little different._

We both cringed when he said that.

After awhile, we heard a whistling and footsteps coming.

_Jeb, _we both thought at the same time.

Sure enough, Jeb's smiling face turned the corner as he strolled in and slouched down next to me.

"Heck, kid, we haven't had this much excitement since Wanda came," was his greeting as he settled the gun across his knee.

"I'm flattered," I said dryly, and he laughed loudly.

"So, how many planets have YOU been to, then?" he asked me eagerly, his eyes bright with the anticipation of new information.

I was a little taken aback. _**Man…he doesn't even know my name. He doesn't know anything ABOUT me, and now he's acting like we're lifelong best friends.**_

___Yeah, well, that's Jeb. He's the cordial, and slightly loony, one._

"Nowhere NEAR as many as Wanda," I told him. "I'm not nearly as exciting. I've only been to two of them. This one and the Flowers."

"Ah, the Flowers. Did you like it there?"

"Yes, I did, but after my sister moved—,"

"Sister?" He pounced on it eagerly.

I sighed. "I've already explained this once, but we don't have the same relationships as you humans do. Bending Petals and I—,"

"That's her name? Bending Petals?"

"Yes. She's Bending Petals and I'm Bending Leaves."

"Ben-ding Leaves," Jeb said slowly. "Yeesh, that's kind of a mouthful.

_Don't I know it, _Ian grumbled.

"D'you mind if I shorten it?" Jeb asked me.

I shook my head numbly.

_No. Shorten it. Please._

I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

"How about we call you…" Jeb stroked his beard in thought. "What about Ben?"

I thought for awhile, too. _Ben. _It was kind of nice to have it shortened.

"Yeah, okay," I murmured, suddenly shy, although I didn't know exactly why. "I like that."

"That's good," Jeb said cheerfully.

He sighed after a moment. "Hey, kid, don't be too hard on yourself, all right?"

I blinked and stared up at him.

He smiled down at me, but it was a sad smile. "Wanda…she's been through a lot, and I'm sure that you know that."

I nodded miserably.

"But none of that is your fault, kid. Trust me. You've seen Ian's memories, I'm sure, and you know all about Wanda and Melanie."

"Yeah," I whispered.

"Well, Jared sure did go through a lot when Melanie was taken away from him, but none of that was Wanda's fault, either."

I frowned and actually considered this. I hadn't thought of it that way.

"I guess you're right," I said after a moment.

Jeb smiled and pushed himself to his feet just as Jared came to sit in the hallway.

"Jared will hang out here and make sure that no one bothers you," Jeb told me, tossing Jared the gun. "Doubt anyone will, though. After Wanda, we've all been a lot more cordial toward you souls."

He laughed at some inside joke and ambled out of the room. "See ya around, Ben," he called after me. "And hey, we've gotta talk more about your sister sometime."

"Yeah, see you," I said quietly, but I don't think that he heard me.

_**Is he really planning on coming back and talking to me about Petals?**_

___Oh, yeah. Jeb's naturally curious. You should have seen all the questions that he was asking Wanda before I…before I got…_

_**Yeah.**_

___Listen, he's right, you know. None of what happened to me is your fault, Ben._

We were both silent for a moment.

_Hm. Ben. You know, I DO like that._

I snorted slightly and ignored Jared's confused look.

_**I've been nicknamed. That settles it. We're in deep—no backing out now.**_

__Ian wordlessly agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Da-da-da-daaaaaa! *trumpet fanfare* Chapter eight! Yay me! Hey, at least it wasn't a cliffhanger again last time. Well, it sort of was. Half-cliffhanger. So I'm only half-mean this time.**

** So, what do you think of Bending Leaves' new name, Ben? Did you like it? Not like it? Reviews, please!**

** Enjoy!**

I lost track of the hours. I didn't know how many days I had spent in the storage hole, but I knew that there were a lot of them. One week, maybe two, of trying to come up with a plan.

Jared stayed there the entire time. Someone else—usually Jeb or Jamie—came to give us our meals. I lost track of what was day and what was night. Everything was so dark down here that I couldn't tell the difference. Everything was the same. Same rock walls, same meals, same faces—Jared, Jeb, Jamie. Jared, Jeb, Jamie.

After what seemed like either one or two weeks—or maybe a year—something different happened. Kyle appeared.

Jared was on his feet in an instant. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

I was confused. What was so wrong with Kyle being there?

"I just wanted to talk to you," Kyle said in a low voice. They were, again, assuming that I couldn't hear them.

"Where is she? I thought that you were supposed to be watching her."

_**Who?**_

___Wanda, most likely._ Ian sighed. _They'll want to keep her away from me._

_**No. They're trying to keep her away from ME.**_

__"It's fine," Kyle said dryly. "I've been watching her almost constantly ever since…ever since _he _got here. But it really isn't necessary. I'm not the only one who's been keeping an eye on her."

Jared raised an eyebrow.

"If I'M not with Wanda all the time, Jeb's watching her. Or Lily. Jamie is stuck to her like GLUE, and Melanie won't let her out of her sight. They're sleeping together now."

"Bet they are," Jared muttered dryly.

"The point is that I doubt she's going to be coming down here anytime soon," Kyle snorted. He leaned against the wall casually as though Ian's and my hearts hadn't just broken.

They began to go on about the raids, but we weren't listening anymore. We didn't want to listen anymore.

_What if we never see her again? _Ian cried, sounding miserable.

_**I really, really, really hope that's not true. Honestly, Ian, you've got a better chance of seeing her again than I do. They're going to take me out soon and send me somewhere else, and you'll all be dead, and my heart will break and stay that way for a long, long time.**_

___Ben, I honestly don't think you'll still love Wanda after you're out of my body. You didn't love her before you were in my body, did you?_

_**Ian, think. I didn't KNOW her before I was in your body.**_

___Oh. I'm sorry, I'm getting a little burned out with the stress of being away from her. _That might have sounded odd in any other circumstance, but I could feel how true it was for him.

I sighed. _**Honestly, Ian? Me, too. Me, too.**_

___Um…ahem._

I blinked and looked up to see that Jared and Kyle had stopped talking and were now staring at me.

I instantly looked away. _**Oh, no. Oh, crap, crap, do you think that they know that you're in here?**_

___They at least know it's likely. They're not going to just stick you directly under the knife as soon as they figure out that there are two of us in here._

_**You don't know that!**_

__Kyle stared at me for a moment later, his eyes looking so much like mine. Like _Ian's._

Then he turned sharply on his heel and vanished into the darkness without a sound.

___**Wanda POV**_

"Goodnight, Mel," I whispered. I tried to make my tone just right. Wooden, broken, and lifeless. Like it had been for the past several days. I tried to make sure that she didn't suspect anything. I had to wait until she was sleeping.

When I was sure that she was asleep, I carefully slid off the mattress and snuck out through the caves.

No one told me where they were holding Ian. I didn't have to ask. I knew.

I carefully snuck down the tunnel, each step slow and even so that I didn't make any noise. If anyone found me down here, I would basically be dead. They had all been following me all around, not letting me get away from them. They had attempted to do it casually, but they weren't succeeding.

I finally saw the glow of the blue lanterns in the storage hole ahead of me. My breath caught in my throat.

Was I really ready to do this?

I could not even explain what it had been like. The man I loved had been taken away from me. Then he had been pushed back at me after two years. Then I realized that it wasn't him. My heart had been ripped out, shoved quickly back in after two years, and then ripped back out again. It hurt so badly.

But I knew that Ian, my Ian, was still in there somewhere. He had _promised _me that he'd come back. I knew that he had to be in there.

I took a deep breath. I had to go and see him, even if it was just for a little while.

I lifted my foot to take a step. And then a hand came down on my shoulder.

"Going somewhere?"

_**Ben POV**_

I was jerked awake by a footstep.

Or, rather, Ian was.

_**You have really sharp ears, **_I muttered, listening harder.

Someone was coming.

Then there was a tiny thud, and I heard Jared say, "Going somewhere?"

There was a tiny, horrified shriek. I snuck carefully to the front of the tunnel and looked around.

I was careful to stay in the shadows so that they couldn't see me. I saw Jared looming out of the darkness with one hand on a tiny, slim figure's shoulder.

Jared had said "Going somewhere," and the tiny figure was the one who had shrieked. I saw it whirl around, and then I saw a glint of gold in the light of the lanterns. I watched the golden curls whip around as she whirled and then settle back down, reaching the last vertebrae of her spine.

_Wanda! WANDA! _Ian was a man. He rarely shrieked. But what burst from him could only be described as one.

_**CALM! DOWN!**_ I made each word a sentence.

__He tried desperately for a minute to break free of my control, and then he settled back slightly, drinking in the sight of Wanda.

"Jared," she breathed. "You _scared_ me! You've got to stop doing that."

"Well, you knew SOMEONE was going to be down here." His voice was cynical.

"I guess I didn't think about that," she muttered, her voice barely audible. She turned almost instinctively to take a step toward my storage hole.

Jared's hand left her shoulder and came to rest on her arm. I knew what was coming and shrank a bit back farther; still where I could see her, though.

"Hold up." His voice had just the slightest edge of sarcasm in it. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong…but I don't think you're supposed to be down here."

She must have sensed what was going on, because she turned to face him, digging her heels in for the fight at the same time that his hand curled around her arm in a gesture both comforting and restraining.

"Jared, _please _let me go," she begged. "I've got to see him. I've got to."

"Wanda, you know you're not supposed to be here. Remember how you treated me when you were in Melanie's body? The soul that's in there is not going to be rational toward you. You can't let him see you. You can't."

"But Ian is in there! I know that he is! He's got to be."

"We DON'T know that, Wanda. We don't know that he's in there somewhere. We don't want to give the soul any unneeded information."

"But don't you understand, Jared?" Her voice was pleading and broken. Was she crying? "He _promised. _He promised that he'd come back. If there's a soul in him, that's the only way that he would have been able to keep his promise. He's in there, Jared. Just like I was in there with Melanie. Ian does not break promises to me. I've got to see him."

Jared could tell that she wasn't going to budge, so I knew that he was going to play at a different angle.

"Wanda, please. Think about _them."_

I had no idea what that meant, but it must have been his trump card, because Wanda completely froze up.

"He can't know about _them, _Wanda," Jared whispered. "If he gets out of there, knowing about _them, _then he'll tell the Seekers. And then what'll happen to them? You know what will happen."

Wanda shuddered.

"Think about Jamie. Think about how he would react to that."

Ian suddenly understood, and he thickened his walls so that I couldn't see what he understood. It was his big secret, though.

_**So it DOES have something to do with Jamie, **_I gloated.

Ian frowned.

Wanda opened her mouth, and then closed it.

"WANDA!"

Melanie rushed into the tunnel, stumbling to a halt. "Jared, where's Wanda?" she gasped.

"I'm right here, Mel," Wanda murmured, sounding ashamed. I knew that she wasn't supposed to be down here.

"Wanderer! You scared me!" Melanie rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. "You're not supposed to be down here. Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry, Mel," Wanda said, but I noticed she never agreed not to do it again.

_That's my girl._

"Come on, we're going back to our room," Melanie said firmly. She grabbed Wanda's hand and began to pull her back out of the tunnel.

I could have sworn, however, that she turned to look over her shoulder ever so slightly.

"I love you, Ian," I heard her whisper.

Then she turned the corner and was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

** Wow.**

** Wow, wow, wow. That's just…that's just all I have to say. Thank you guys so, so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate it, and I'm so flattered that you guys like my story. Tips? Suggestions? Review and let me know! I really am enjoying your feedback.**

** Enjoy!**

I sighed, not knowing what to do. It had been so long since I had seen Wanda. So long. A few more weeks of just sitting here, at least. I was getting bored and dreary again. Wanda coming had made excitement, but just for a slight while. Now everything was dull and boring again, everything the same. They did take me to the bathroom once or twice a day, but that was it.

_**Okay, you have to admit that this is a lot more boring than we thought it would be.**_

__Ian sighed. _I know you're bored, Ben, and I am, too. But…I honestly feel so much better off._

_**What do you mean? **_I was confused, but I could see his point. He felt wonderful, full of life and spirit. This was the best he'd felt since I had awoken in his body.

_I'm bored, of course. We both are. But I was bored before, too. Your life just wasn't very exciting for me. Sorry. No offense._

_**None taken.**_

___At least now I'm bored where I should be. I was never comfortable in your world, Ben. But now? I'm…I'm home._

I realized what a good deal of his problem had been. He had been bored and he had missed his family, yes, but for two years, he had been very, very homesick.

_**I'm glad YOU'RE happy, but now I'M the one that's homesick.**_

___Are you? Are you really?_

I frowned and thought about it. I really should be sad. I really shouldn't feel as though I belonged. I shouldn't even feel comfortable here. I _should _feel homesick.

But…I didn't.

I felt just as good as Ian. Maybe better. I had never felt quite so alive before now. The smooth volcanic rocks felt comforting, cool, and familiar beneath my hands. The slightly musty, stale smell was recognizable and even soothing. And the faces that I saw everyday felt just right. I loved seeing them, even Jeb with all his wrinkles, even Kyle with the iciness in his eyes.

I sighed, wishing for a change, wishing for something new. I felt happy, comfortable, at home—even though I shouldn't, really—but everything was dreary and the same. I ached to see Wanda, and Ian did, too.

The worst part was that I thought I was going insane.

I randomly thought that I heard tiny footfalls, like someone was walking very quietly, or maybe the skittering of a pebble, like someone had nudged the rocks outside. Whenever I ran outside to see, though, no one was there.

I began to feel spooked, like someone was constantly watching me. Ian tried to convince me that I was being ridiculous at first, but after awhile, he began to hear things, too.

Suddenly, abruptly, I heard loud footsteps. I cringed. Was this the person who was stalking me?

But it was just Jeb.

"All right, Ben," he said cheerfully, his voice bouncing around the tiny space. I cringed, unaccustomed to it after weeks of silence. "We're going to need your help in the cornfields today. You gotta earn your keep in here."

I was uncertain. _**Ian, I don't know how to harvest corn!**_

___Yeah, but I do. I've lived here for a good portion of my life, remember?_

Oh, yeah. I remembered now.

I stumbled uncertainly to my feet and left the caves with him. He smiled at me in a way that was clearly supposed to be friendly. It just made me nervous.

We went down tunnel after tunnel, and I knew all of them. Or, rather, Ian did. I knew exactly when we arrived at the cornfields.

Everyone hushed and stared at me. A few of them were hostile, a few angry. There were many, though, that only looked sad and confused. There were even a few friendly faces in the crowd. I tried to focus on those ones.

_Hmm…Wanda isn't here. _He sounded sad.

_**No…did you expect her to be?**_

___Well, she was in the fields last time, when we came in here, remember?_

I frowned, confused. _**I thought that you didn't like her to…**_

__Ian had gotten there all on his own, though. _Wait a minute! She's not allowed to work down in the fields! What was she DOING? She might get hurt! Pet's body was too little for that._

_**Maybe she built up her muscles while we were…while you were…gone…**_

__All the fury immediately left him, and he was abruptly sad. _Yeah…maybe._

I sighed and began to work. Jamie was on one side of me, and Kyle was on the other. Jamie chattered happily to me while we were working, but Kyle maintained a stony silence.

I abruptly heard a thud and some rustling next to me. Jamie didn't seem to notice anything, but Kyle stiffened and stopped working.

I did, too.

"I'll be right back," I muttered, casually working my way down the row until I got to the place where I'd heard the rustling.

I plunged into the corn, looking one way and then another. I didn't see anything.

Sighing, I reasoned that I was being paranoid again, and turned to go back.

Then I noticed something. One or two of the stalks were oddly rumpled.

_Had _someone been there? Watching me? Watching _Ian?_

_ It…it…well, um, it might just be your imagination. _Ian wasn't even fooling himself.

I frowned, raising an eyebrow. _**I guess we'll see, won't we?**_

Life went on in the caves, and I was gradually accepted by more and more people. Lily, Trudy, Geoffrey, and Heath, especially. They were the nicer ones, as I recalled, the ones who had first accepted Wanda when she came to the caves trapped in Melanie's body. Jamie was nice to me, as was Jeb. Jared was cordial, if not buddy-buddy. Melanie and Kyle, however, still held me at a stony distance. I knew that Kyle had a grudge against me because I had stolen his brother's body. Melanie was probably furious with me for hurting Wanda.

As for Wanda, I hadn't seen her since she had come to visit me in the storage hole.

I sighed, feeling sad as I thought about it. Jared had moved in with Aaron and Brandt in place of Jamie, and Wanda had moved out of our old room to room with Melanie in place of Jared. Jamie was in Wanda and Ian's old room, and I was bunking with him, too, for now.

I missed her so badly it was like a constant ache, throbbing and pulsing every time my heart beat. I sighed, wishing badly that I could do something about it, wishing that I could see her.

Ian was in pain, too. If anything, it was almost worse than it had been before, because now she was so close, just a few caves away. Half the country wasn't separating them anymore, merely a few rock walls, and he still couldn't see her, couldn't touch her, couldn't talk to her. I felt bad for him. I understood how he felt.

Hours turned into days, which turned into weeks. I lost track of how long I'd been in the caves. It just became an accepted way of life.

_What about Bending Petals? _Ian asked suddenly one day.

My heart sank and felt heavy. My twin sister was the one part of coming to the caves that I regretted.

_Won't her sickness get worse? You were on your way to give her the formula…what if she dies?_

_**Yes, it WAS fatal. But I e-mailed the Seeker before I left, and in the E-mail, I included the fact that the formula was on my computer. She can find it and give it to my sister. I'm sure Bending Petals will be fine.**_

__Ian sighed as we both thought about her. He missed her nearly as much as I did now.

We were both sitting quietly on our bed. Austin hadn't come in yet.

Suddenly, the door opened quietly, and someone stepped in.

I looked up, and my breath caught in my throat.

_She's here!_

Not a few caves away, but—

_Here!_

She was standing there in all her beauty and glory—

_She's here!_

Her sunlight hair and her moonlight skin, her gray eyes and perfect face—

_Here!_

I sat straight upright.

"Wanda," I whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello!**

** And…I have nothing to say.**

** ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

She hesitated, her eyes wide with fright. She was pressed against the wall, hidden in the shadows.

"I-Ian," she choked out.

"No," I whispered, feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. "No, Wanderer, I'm not." I thought it might seem better if I used her full name. Her human-given nickname was not for me.

She relaxed slightly, her eyes cooling. "No, you're not."

"I'm sorry about that," I whispered, folding my hands and staring at them.

She took a step forward, and her face instantly melted into an apologetic expression. "No, no. I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant. I just…I just…I just forgot. I'm sorry." Now she looked miserable.

"No, seriously. It's all right," I assured her.

"No, it's really not," she murmured, standing against the wall. "That was mean of me."

"Honestly, you're okay," I tried to tell her.

_STOP APOLOGIZING TO EACH OTHER AND TALK._

I tried very hard not to smile.

"You…you're Bending Leaves," she said after an awkward moment of silence.

"They call me Ben here, actually," I told her in a low voice.

She smiled, and then she laughed. "You're a soul. It figures."

"What do you mean?" I asked her, confused.

"Every soul that wanders in these parts gets a nickname," she laughed. "Bending Leaves becomes Ben…Burns Living Flowers became just Burns…Sunlight Passing Through the Ice became Sunny…" She looked down at her hand as her voice became a whisper. "Wanderer became Wanda."

"Do you not like Wanderer?" I asked her, confused at the expression that had crossed her face when she said that.

She shrugged. "Everyone pretty much calls me Wanda now. Wanderer is my name, but it just…it just isn't really appropriate anymore. I was a Wanderer, but this is my planet, and I'm not wandering anymore."

I nodded. "That makes sense." I sighed and leaned against the wall. "Do you…do you mind if I call you that?"

"No, I don't," she said, smiling at me shyly. "I'm assuming that you don't mind if I call you Ben?"

"No, I don't."

I tried hard not to snort.

Wanda sighed and turned to me. "I've got two things on my mind…Ben."

I smiled encouragingly at her, trying to keep her from running away. Even though I thought I already knew what she was going to say.

She sighed. "You're in Ian's body. That means that you've seen all his memories."

I knew that it wasn't a question. "Yes."

"You know who I am. You know everything about me."

"Not everything," I disagreed quietly.

She blinked at me. "Well…you know my…_relationship…_with Ian, don't you?"

"Yes." Now it was only a whisper.

She sighed. "You saw his last memories, didn't you?"

"Yes." For the third time.

"So you heard him…promise…me…that he would…that he'd…"

She was suddenly sobbing, unable to continue.

"Yes," I said quietly. "He promised you that he would come back."

She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I'm…sorry," she choked out.

Ian sighed. _My Wanda. She apologizes to OTHERS when SHE'S in pain._

"Wanda, it's perfectly all right," I promised her.

Wanda sighed. "Okay, here's the thing. You know that I was put into Melanie's body," she said quietly. "And you know that Melanie didn't disappear. She stayed."

"Yes, she did," I whispered.

Wanda's eyes were filling again, and she struggled to stop crying. "Ben, Ian doesn't break promises from me. So if you're in his body…there's only one thing that could have happened."

I was fidgeting pretty badly at this point.

"Ben." She smiled at some inside joke. "Is Ian still in there?"

_**Why is she smiling?**_

___Jamie asked her the same exact thing about Melanie…oh, please, Ben, tell her I'm in here, please! Please tell her! _He was abruptly begging, desperate, growing stronger by the second.

I fought to contain him, but he suddenly surged forward with all his strength. To my astonishment, he broke through my control.

"Wanda!" he gasped through our mouth. I felt squashed, cramped, crushed. "Wanda. I'm here. I'm still in here. I promised I'd come back."

She blinked in astonishment. "Ian?" she whispered, her voice filled with light and hope.

"I'm here, Wanda. I promised. I love you. I love you, too," he gasped.

Then he got pulled back into the corner of our mind, and I was back in control.

"Ian!" Wanda cried. "He IS in there!" Then she was crying again, but she was crying with happiness. "Ian, I love you, too. I missed you so much."

_**What do you want to tell her?**_

___Tell her that I missed her, too._

"He missed you, too," I whispered to her.

She blinked. "Oh, Ben, is that you again?"

"Yeah, it's me." My voice was filled with weariness.

"Was that…was that Ian talking to me just a minute ago?" She sounded as though she was barely daring to hope.

"Yeah, it was." I tried to sound happier, more upbeat, but the joy in her expression crumbled my own happiness in return.

I wanted her to love me so badly.

_Back off! She's mine. She'll always be mine._

I flinched away from Ian's harsh words before I became aware of the pain that was filling him to the brim from being in control of himself again, finally, and then having that ripped away once more. He was hurting, so he had lashed out at me. When I had done the same thing, he had forgiven me. I had to return that favor.

_**I'm truly sorry, Ian. I'm trying to stop these feelings, but I just can't help it.**_

___No…it's okay. Tell her that I love her more than anything.  
_"He loves you," I told her. "He loves you so much."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Ian," she whispered, her entire face lighting up. "Always have. Always will." She hesitated, and then leaned into my side. "I knew you'd come back."

_Of course. I promised I would._

I repeated his words to her.

"Ben, I cannot thank you enough for taking care of my Ian," she said suddenly, tilting her head back to smile at me fondly.

"Oh…I…it wasn't a big deal. It was nothing," I muttered.

She gently touched my arm, and her fingers sent an electric current through my body. Ian flinched.

"No," she said quietly. "It was much more than nothing."

We stared at each other for a long moment until I couldn't bear it anymore.

"You…do you…you don't hate me for being in his body?" I blurted out at last.

She smiled warmly at me. She seemed to have almost…expected the question.

"No, Ben, I don't," she murmured. "It wouldn't be fair. I know how that feels, remember?"

I gave her a questioning look.

"When I first came to the caves," she explained, "Jared and Sharon and Maggie and a few of the others who were particularly close to Melanie were very aggressive toward me because I was in Melanie's body. But there wasn't anything I could do about it; I was in a hibernation tank in deep space when that decision was made. It wasn't my fault. I didn't choose the body I was put into. I know how it feels to be blamed for something that isn't your fault, and it doesn't feel good, does it?"

"No," I murmured, trying to keep back tears now. "Kyle does it to me…I can't blame him, though."

She rubbed my shoulder. "No, we can't blame the people that are aggressive toward us because of our bodies," she murmured, sounding much older and wiser than her little body showed. "It's not their fault, either. They've lost someone that they love, and while that isn't our fault, we have to let them grieve."

"Yeah," I whispered. "That's…that's good advice, Wanda."

She shrugged. "I've been around for quite a while," she said softly. "It just goes to show that I'd have some good advice for people." She flashed a smile up at me.

Then she rubbed angrily at her cheeks, where tears were starting to flow down again.

"I'm really sorry," she murmured. "Gosh…I must look hideous right now."

But I took in her face and thought that she had never been more beautiful.

I had to tell her that, but I couldn't tell her that it was MY thoughts.

"No," I disagreed quietly. "Ian thinks that you've never been more beautiful."

She blushed. "Thanks, baby," she murmured. To Ian.

_Tell her I love her. Please._

_**I already did.**_

___Tell her again!_

"He wants me to let you know, yet again, that he really does love you," I told her, trying to keep the sarcastic edge out of my voice.

She grinned at my tone. "Tell him that I love him, too, and not to overdo it, please."

_Tell her that I've missed out on two years. It's about time I got some of it in._

I laughed and relayed the message, and she laughed, too.

"Now, there was just one thing that I wanted to talk to you about, other than that," she whispered after we stopped laughing.

I winced. I thought I knew what she was going to say next.

"Has Ian been…keeping…anything from you?"

I blinked. That wasn't it.

"Well, yes, actually," I said in a low voice. "He's been keeping something pretty big from me, actually. I don't know…I don't know what it is, though…"

She seemed a bit relieved, but I didn't know why.

"I'll have to go and tell Jamie," I heard her mutter to herself.

"So it DOES have something to do with Jamie?" I interrupted eagerly.

She blinked and mashed her lips together, looking horrified and guilty.

"Um…no," she muttered,

_**Dang, she IS a bad liar.**_

__Disgruntled, Ian didn't reply.

I sighed. "I still don't know what your big secret is."

She smiled a little bit, but tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said thickly. "I'm just…I'm just so happy to see Ian again."

Every cell of my body was pulling me toward her, yearning for her. I wanted her. I needed her.

She looked up at me, and her expression became abruptly disconcerted. "Ben? Are…are you okay?"

And then I was kissing her.

I don't know what happened—I just lost control. I was wrapped around her, gasping her name, trying to get as close to her as possible. It was so incredible, beyond what I'd ever hoped to imagine. She was beautiful and wonderful and _real._

_ STOP IT! STOP IT! DON'T! NO! STOP IT NOW! BEN, STOP IT! _Ian roared in my head, fighting hard. _Let go of her NOW!_

I was struck by a sudden thought. Was Wanda enjoying this like I was?

Ian froze, paralyzed with horror.

Suddenly, though, she put both her hands on my chest and shoved, hard. I broke away from her and fell back on the mattress, gasping.

"Wanda, I…I…" I choked out, no words able to express what had just happened.

"No…it's…f-f—," She was gasping, crying, trying to force the word "fine" out. But she couldn't do it. It wasn't fine. It wasn't fine at all, and I knew it. She was trying to make me feel better even when she was in agony herself. It wasn't fine. She couldn't say it.

So she did the only thing that she could instead. She shoved herself to her feet and ran from the room.


	11. Chapter 11

** Here is chapter eleven! I am really wowed by the amount of people who are reviewing for me. I am so, so happy. Thanks, guys! Your tips have been really helpful. F.Y.I, this has been addressed in the reviews a few times; there is a reason that they didn't immediately try to take Ben out of Ian. It shall be revealed later on. ;)**

"Oh, no," I groaned as I watched her golden hair whip out of sight around the doorway. I heard a sob, and then receding footsteps.

Ian was absolutely contorted with grief, but his head raised slightly. _Wait, she's not heading toward the kitchens…or the fields…or anywhere, actually. She's heading in the wrong direction…toward…_

He let out a gasp.

_RUN, BEN! HURRY, GO AFTER HER! GO, NOW!_

I blinked, not understanding.

_BEN!_

I ran after her as fast as I could, trying madly to sift through his memories as I went. I could hear her sobbing ahead of me, gasping, and I felt terrible.

Ian didn't feel bad or agonized anymore. He was just filled with an enormous, total, complete panic.

_**Ian, what is the MATTER with you?**_

___She's heading toward the back of the caves! _Ian screamed at me. _There are enormous gorges in the back of those caves. They can be up to forty feet deep, and she's heading right for them! You have to stop her before she falls!_

I let out a gasp of horror and pushed myself faster.

_She's only a few turns away! Stop her! STOP HER!_

"Wanda, stop!" I yelled, my voice echoing around the tunnels. "Stop!"

I could hear her running, and she only ran faster. I pushed myself, too, though, knowing that her body was smaller and tired easier, whereas I had muscles and stamina to make me faster.

I whirled around the corner to see Wanda racing straight into the blackness, where I knew the gorges were.

I heard her scream just as I fueled myself faster, saw her hair begin to fall out of sight.

_NO!_

I was filled with a horror and desperation so real that I threw myself forward, falling to my knees at the very edge of the gorge and stretching my arm out as far as I could.

She was falling, but I threw myself halfway over the edge and grabbed her outstretched hand with both of mine.

I felt her jerk to a halt, stopping the fall. She was gasping and panting, the scream just dying from her lips. I felt her tiny fingers curl ferociously around mine, squeezing my hand so I hard I thought it would fall off.

"It's all right, Wanda," I called down to her, my voice echoing around the gorge. "I've got you. It's okay."

I could feel her trembling, hear her gasping. She reached up with her other hand to grab mine, digging her nails into my skin. I didn't flinch.

Just then there were voices and lights.

"Wanda!" I heard several voices calling.

"I'M HERE!" she yelled, her voice shaking and trembling with exertion and fear. "HERE!"

_Oh, crap, _Ian cried. _Pull her up, quickly._

I frowned. _**Why?**_

__But it was too late. The others barged around the corner, their flashlights shining and illuminating me.

"Wanda!" Melanie shrieked.

"He's trying to drop her over the edge of the gorge!" I heard Jared yell.

"STOP HIM!" Kyle roared.

_That's why._

"No!" I cried. "Please, help me pull her up!"

Jared, Kyle, and Melanie were at my side in an instant, reaching over the edge of the cliff with me. Melanie and Kyle grabbed both of her arms and Jared wrapped his arm around her waist. I tried to release her once I was sure that they had her, but her grip tightened on my hands and I couldn't let go.

All four of us pulled at once, and she flew up over the edge of the gorge, tumbling forward into my arms.

I instantly tried to get away from her, but she clung tighter to me, curling against my body. My arms hesitantly went around her, and they felt familiar and comfortable there.

For two heartbeats, it was silent and cool, just Wanderer and Bending Leaves, Wanda and Ben.

Then there were arms pulling at her, pulling at me, and she was ripped from my grasp. Wanda wrapped herself into Melanie's arms, tears running down her face. Melanie gently lowered her to the ground, sitting next to her and holding her. Everyone converged around her, stroking her hair and her arms and trying to soothe her.

"He tried to drop you, didn't he?" Jared's angry voice rose above the crowd. "What did he do to you?"

I winced, thinking that she would give me up in that instant, either say that I had tried to drop her or tell them that I had kissed her and caused her to run. It was really all my fault that she had fallen.

"No, no," she cried hoarsely, struggling into an upright position. "You've got it all wrong. I was just going for a walk down here. I was trying to find him, and I fell. I didn't know about the gorges. But he came by at that moment and he caught me."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, hearing the false notes in her voice. "You stood up for me once, Wanda, and it was a lie."

"Ben did not drop me over the edge," she insisted. "He saved me." Since that part wasn't a lie, her voice was so certain and truthful that they all relaxed a bit.

I slumped against the wall, panting.

"Are you all right, Ben?" Jeb asked me, stepping forward.

"I'm fine," I said quickly. "Is she all right?"

"Wanda," I heard Jamie say in a low voice. "Does Ben…does he…"

"He doesn't know," Wanda whispered in his ear, thinking I couldn't hear her. "Ian blocked those memories from him."

Jamie sighed with relief. "Ben can't know," he whispered back.

"I know," Wanda told him quietly, brushing some hair out of his eyes. "It'll be all right."

_Wanda. _Ian sighed. _I'm so glad that she's all right. Thank you for saving her for me, Ben._

_**Ian, I'm so sorry I kissed her. I didn't mean to.**_

___I…_He hesitated. _I'm not ready to forgive you, Ben. Not yet. But I understand._

_**Thank you, Ian. I truly am sorry. I won't do it again.**_

__"…want to talk to Ben," I heard Wanda saying as I jerked out of my reverie. "Alone, please…"

"No." Jared and Melanie said it at the same time, looking absolutely firm.

But Wanda's eyes flashed in a way that I'd never seen before. "Give me this," she said through her teeth, staring them down.

Ian was taken aback.

After a moment, they backed down.

"We'll be just outside if you need to talk to us," Jared said pointedly, throwing a look at me. Wanda waited, impatient, for them to leave.

Melanie threw me a look of disgust and loathing, stalking from the cave. Jamie and Jared, after one last warning glance, hurried after her. Kyle and Jeb left silently.

Wanda was quiet for a moment. Then she scooted up against the rocks next to me.

"Thanks for saving my life," she whispered. "I didn't know that those chasms were back here."

"I didn't, either," I murmured. "Ian told me."

"Thank you, Ian," she said after a quiet pause.

_Always._

"He loves you," I told her, trying not to sound sad about it. "Of course he would save you."

We both hesitated, and then I turned to her, the words spilling from my mouth. "Listen, I'm really sorry that I kissed you. It's just all these human emotions in this body, and I'm not used to them, and we both wanted to so much, and—,"

She held up a hand to stop me. "Ben," she said gently, "you know I love Ian."

"Yes," I whispered, trying not to feel the pain that twisted my heart.

"But I was in Melanie's body once, and I felt those same emotions for Jared," she told me. "They weren't mine. They belonged to my body. I don't think that you truly love me, but Ian does, and his body is confusing you. Having him in your mind doesn't help much, either."

"No," I agreed wryly. "It doesn't."

"I understand, Ben," she said softly. "I wanted to kiss Jared so many times when I was in Mel's body. I'm not saying it was right—,"

"No, it wasn't," I interrupted.

"—and I'm NOT saying that you're going to do it again and it will be okay to do so—,"

"Of course not," I agreed.

"—but I do understand. And I forgive you." She sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I shouldn't have run off like that, but I panicked. I didn't know what to do." She rested her chin on her knees. "You see, Ben, losing Ian was probably the most excruciating thing I've ever had to deal with. It was like they had just ripped my heart out and held it away from me. And suddenly you were back, and they just shoved it back in. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't fit properly anymore. And I don't know how to operate without it.

"Feeling you kiss me…I knew that it wasn't him. I could tell. I feel the difference. But the body was his, and it was just so familiar that it was like shoving my heart out and in all over again. It was just too much for me to handle. My system got overloaded, and I ran. It was the only thing to do. It was the only thing I _could _do. But you've promised not to kiss me again, and that means I won't be making rash decisions like that anymore." She smiled shyly up at me through her curls. "Thank you again, Ben. You saved my life."

"You're welcome," I told her, smiling a little. "It was the least I could do."

We were quiet for a moment.

"So…why haven't you tried to take me out of Ian yet?" I whispered finally.

She glanced over at me, surprised.

"I know that you know how to do it," I pressed, ignoring her look. "I saw his memories. And I know that you all want him back. You NEED him back. So why haven't you done it yet? It would be easy to put me in a cryotank and send me off to another planet. It would be MORE than easy. So why haven't you?"

She sighed. "Do you want the truth?"

"Of course."

"Well, we _did _try…sort of."

I blinked, surprised. I wasn't expecting that answer.

"You remember when Kyle, Jared, Mel, and the others found you, right?"

"Yes."

"And they put you in a Jeep, and you weren't conscious for the whole time…" Her voice trailed off.

"No, of course not." I was starting to get confused. "I was sleeping."

She nodded, acknowledging the statement. "Yes, and while you were sleeping, they did a scanning of the soul inside Ian—that would be you—to see what to do with you. We've got some more developed equipment and technology now, and we know how to scan souls.

"When we got home, we gave the scans to Doc, and he looked them over. And they called me in, and I looked at them, too. Because something was different with you."

"Different?" I was surprised, not knowing what she meant. Ian was equally baffled.

"Apparently, when you were inserted, one of your nerve endings sort of…twisted into Ian's ribcage. It's very near your heart, and we watched the scans to see you…_tugging _at your nerve ending. Trying to retract it. But it wouldn't move, and we think that it was stuck."

Now I was really surprised. Why hadn't the Healers given me this information? Had they even known? If they had, did they keep it from me on purpose?

"We looked at it even more closely, and we realized that even if we cut Ian open and tried to get you out, we wouldn't be able to. That nerve is stuck, and there isn't any way to free it and get you out that we've discovered that won't hurt both you AND Ian. And we don't want either one of you to get hurt. That isn't how we operate."

"That's how you USED to operate," I murmured, trying to fight off the memories. Souls…mangled, twisted broken on the table.

"Believe me, I know," she said, and her voice had suddenly changed. It was cold, bleak, and sad. "I found that out in the worst possible way. But as soon as I came along, they changed their procedure."

"You're helping them," I whispered, my voice trailing off into the darkness.

"Yes, I am," she agreed.

"Against the other souls."

"It wasn't an easy decision to make, Ben." Her eyes flashed again. "And I didn't want to have to make it. But I love my human family very much, just as much and more as I love my souls. To put it simply…they were here first." She smiled a little at how childlike it sounded. "And in the other planets, it doesn't feel so evil to steal their bodies, you know?"

"I've definitely never been to, seen, or heard of any other planet like this," I agreed wryly.

"But ever since I got here, I've made sure that no soul ever gets hurt when they're being taken out, and we always send them safely off to a different planet, somewhere they'll do less harm. You know us. We never try to purposely hurt someone."

"No, that's true," I agreed again.

She smiled, and it was sad. "I'm going to try to get Ian back, though. You've got to understand that. I have to try."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I know," I said, very quietly.

She grinned up at me half-heartedly. "But for the time being, Ben, can we at least be friends?" She stuck out her hand.

I stared at it for a long time before finally taking a deep breath, reaching out, and shaking it with mine. "Friends," I said, making a painful attempt at a smile.

But on the inside, I was crying.

_**I want to be more than friends…**_


	12. Chapter 12

**And here is chapter twelve!**

** You guys have been so supportive and awesome. I'm really loving your reviews. Thank you so much. I just wanted to let you know that you are definitely being appreciated.**

** Enjoy! This chapter is short, but it's very important, and one of my favorites.**

_Rustle, rustle, rustle._

I froze, right in the middle of yanking up some corn.

Trying hard not to panic, I reached out with my mind.

_**Ian. Ian, it's happening again.**_

___I know, I know, but what can we do?_

He sounded just as panicked and weary as I did. We were both skittish and afraid, feeling constantly like someone was watching us, but we could never find a single person. We heard small footfalls or rustlings constantly, and it was really starting to fray our nerves.

On top of that, we found that the other people in the caves were looking extremely worried. They were constantly huddled in little groups, talking in hushed whispers and looking anxious. Every time I would come near, they would instantly stop and stare at me, only resuming their conversation after I was gone.

I was finally done in the fields, and after stretching, I headed to the bathing room.

Someone—Wanda, probably—had been able to get real soap on one of the raids, instead of the prickly cactus soap that Ian and I remembered. It felt soft and soothing on my skin. When I was finished, I changed clothes and headed back to my room…

…unaware that I would soon get the biggest shock of my life.

"We don't need him!" Kyle's voice.

I jolted awake, sitting bolt upright on the mattress. I blinked the sleepiness from my eyes as Ian tried to get me to be more alert.

Squinting up at the little crack in the ceiling, I could see that it was darkest night. I must have fallen asleep after I'd gotten back from my bath. Now, though, I heard voices arguing outside.

"Yes, we do." Wanda's voice, desperate, instantly had me more alert than Ian could make me. He, too, was attentive, trying to hear what was going on.

_**What are they saying? What are they talking about?**_

___I don't know, Ben, I've only heard as much as you have._

"Listen." Wanda's voice was quieter now and had a ring of authority in it that we were both unaccustomed to. "Ben saved my life. Behind this door is a soul who is good and kind, and he can help us. And Ian. Always remember Ian."

Yes, Ian. Everyone was now aware of his presence after I had permitted Wanda to tell our secret. Now people looked at me with hope and light in their eyes, knowing that they would soon get Ian back. A few looked at me with some pity, and I knew that I was already beginning to make some friends here, friends who didn't want me to leave just yet as much as they wanted to get Ian back. Friends like Geoffrey, Heath, and Lily. Trudy was nice to me, too, and Jared had thawed out some since I had saved Wanda's life.

"Wanda, we still don't know if we can trust him."

"Well, I'm going to find out right now."

There were quiet footsteps that came nearer and nearer, and then they halted.

Jamie gasped. "Wanda, _no! _If he gets out of here and tells the Seekers that—,"

"He won't, though," she interrupted. "You remember when I was a soul in Mel's body. Do you remember what the idea of turning you and Jared and the others in to the Seeker did to me?"

"Yes." It was barely more than a whisper, and then his voice got louder. "But this is out of bounds, Wanda, I mean—,"

"I'm inclined to go with Jamie on this one." It was Melanie's voice. "I think that there are other ways to prove his trustworthiness. We don't need to go this far."

"Listen." Jeb interrupted all of them, and they instantly fell silent. "You know what this means to Wanda. You know how hard this decision must be for her. So stop making it harder and let her decide, all right?"

There was silence.

"I have to," Wanda whispered. "Even if not for Ben, Ian is still in there, the Ian that we all know and love, and he's got a right to know. It's been nearly three years now. I bet you didn't know that Ben had been here this long, did you?"

The stunned silence behind the door only enforced the truth in that statement. I was stunned, too. I had no idea that it had been so long. Sure, the days in the caves had settled into weeks, which in turn had become months. But had I really been here that long? It felt like no time at all. I had quickly settled into the rhythm of life here, and I was just as shocked as the others seemed to be.

"All right." It was just a tiny whisper, but it came from Melanie, and that seemed to give Wanda courage.

I waited, silent and tense with anticipation.

There was a soft, gentle knock on the door. "Ben?" Wanda called in a beautiful, melodic voice. "Are you awake in there, Ben?"

"Yes," I called back quietly. "Come in."

She pulled the doors apart and stepped into the room. The others filed in behind her—Jeb, Jamie, Melanie, Jared, and Kyle. They formed a line behind her that was somehow almost a challenge, like they were daring me to get any closer to the girl they all loved.

"Hello, Wanda," I murmured. "Hi, Kyle. Jeb, Jamie, Jared, Mel."

They all nodded once, except Melanie, whose expression just grew stony. Kyle had at least nodded to me.

Wanda took a deep breath. "Ben, there is someone very important in these caves that we need you to meet."

There was the tiniest of sounds from somewhere between Melanie and Wanda.

It was then that I noticed the little shadow clinging to Wanda's knees. She leaned down and murmured soothing words to it.

I was puzzled. _**Who is that?**_

__Ian was equally baffled. _I…I don't know. Freedom? Isaiah? _It was clearly a child.

Wanda looked up at me, and there it was—the steely fire in her eyes that I still didn't understand.

"You can do it," she murmured to the little shadow, not taking her eyes off of me. "C'mon."

The little shadow took a deep breath.

Then she carefully stepped into view.

She was small, that much I could see, but she was tough. Because I could see that the shadow was a she now. It was a little girl.

I was wondering where the heck a little girl had come from when the child shook her hair out of her face and looked me straight in the eye.

I gasped and my knees buckled. I had to sit down for a moment.

The girl self-consciously ran her fingers through her hair. Her thick, waist-length, inky black hair that matched mine exactly.

She stared at me with wide eyes that burned blue, brighter than a star, brighter than a fire. They were cobalt blue, ice blue, sapphire blue, and they sparkled like diamonds.

And they matched mine exactly. They matched _Ian's _exactly.

_No! _Ian gasped, and then shrieked, _NO!_

In that instant, the wall that had been so carefully put and held up crumbled to bits. I saw in that instant everything.

I saw that he had altered the first memory I had seen when I was put into his body. He had altered his memories, changed them, so that I would not detect this one secret, this one precious child in front of me with her perfect, tiny teeth and round face and angelic features. He had so carefully hidden her from me, but now his secret came streaming into view with the pain, longing, and joy combined of seeing her there, before us.

The secret was that when he was taken, Wanda had been heavily pregnant.

She had been pregnant with this child, this girl in front of me.

I let out another gasp as the memories, the true memories, flooded my mind as Ian tried in vain to stop them. I remembered when Doc had told them. Ian and Wanda had a child, and it was this child standing in front of me with Ian's eyes and hair.

Memory after memory filled me, and they all made sense now.

_Wanda gasped. "Wait. Trudy, where's…"_

_ Trudy let out a gasp of horror._

_ Wanda fainted._

She was looking for her daughter.

_The rustlings. The faint footfalls. There was someone watching us, spying on us. A child. Someone small._

Wanda's child. Ian's child. Watching her father that she'd never met.

_"Does he know about…"_

_ "No, Jamie. Ian hid those memories from him."_

_ "Ben can't know, Wanda."_

_ "I know. It will be all right."_

They were talking about her. This little girl in front of me.

"Ben, Ian," Wanda said, her voice quavering, "I would like you to meet Celeste." She took a deep breath. "My daughter." And she looked at my eyes, and looked straight past my eyes to Ian, because I knew she was talking to him. _"Our _daughter."


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow! Ba ba BUMMM! Some of you saw that coming, but I hope not everyone did!**

** Here's the next chapter.**

I stared in astonishment at the little girl before me. Ian's daughter. Celeste.

We stared at each other for a long, long time, our identical eyes locked. Suddenly, she broke away and turned back toward Wanda.

"That's not Daddy," she said firmly.

Everyone seemed a little taken aback. I don't think anyone was expecting her to say that.

I was listening in wonder to her voice, however. Her high, clear soprano sounded absolutely beautiful. Besides Wanda, it was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Melanie cooed, her face relaxing into a gentle expression as she knelt by Celeste.

"That's not Daddy," Celeste repeated firmly. "That's Uncle Ben. Where's Daddy?"

A shock ran through me as she said that. _**Uncle Ben…**_

___Yes. _Ian was suddenly laughing and crying. _Yes, I guess you are. Congrats, Uncle._

_**Look who's talking, Daddy.**_

__He was visibly pleased, feeling joy erupt inside him, even though it was still tinged with an undercurrent of nervousness.

"It's…it's a bit complicated, honey," Wanda said carefully, kneeling down by Celeste. "You remember the stories I told you about when Mommy was in Auntie Mel's body?"

"Yes, Mommy," Celeste said somberly.

"It's the same thing here. See, Uncle Ben is in Daddy's body. Daddy's still in there, though."

"Oh," Celeste said quietly, turning to face me again. She took a step forward and whispered, "Hi, Daddy."

_Celeste. Celeste. I never even got to meet you, but you're so beautiful…oh, I love you, baby._

"Your daddy loves you a lot, Celeste," I told her quietly. "He thinks that you're the most beautiful girl in the world."

"What about Mommy?" she asked innocently.

Jeb roared with laughter. "Ooh, she's gotcha there, Ian!" he cackled.

_Tell her that Mommy is a lady, and she's the most beautiful lady in the world._

"Celeste, Daddy says that you are the most beautiful girl in the world, but Mommy's a lady, and she's the most beautiful _lady _in the world," I told her calmly, greatly enjoying the disgruntled expression that was quickly put onto Jeb's face when we came up with a quick explanation.

Celeste nodded slowly. "That makes sense," she said after a moment, smiling up at me with a gorgeous angelic expression on her face.

Wanda frowned after a moment's pause. "Wait a minute. Celeste, how did you know about Uncle Ben?" Her voice had a warning note in it now. "Celeste Melanie O'Shea, were you in the fields again spying on Uncle Ben?"

I tried hard not to start at the sound of her full name. _**She named Celeste after Melanie?**_

__Melanie must have caught my expression, because she gave me a smug look.

_Apparently so. I wasn't there for that part, remember? Wanda was due in only a few weeks when I was taken. _I watched that first memory again, seeing this time her swollen belly, the panic that Ian felt not only for the girl he loved but for their unborn child. _Celeste must have been born shortly after they took me. I wasn't here when they named her._

_**Was that one of the names that you two decided on?**_

___Yes…_He smiled, reminiscing. _We were both arguing. I liked Celeste, but she liked a soul name, something like Glass in the Sky. I guess she chose my option after I disappeared._

_**That was sweet.**_

__Celeste tossed her black locks over her shoulder, her tiny dimpled hands on her hips. "Mommy, why would I be in the fields? You told me I wasn't allowed to go and spy on people in there anymore." Celeste flashed Wanda an angelic smile. "Does this mean that you've changed your mind about that?"

Melanie stifled a giggle as Wanda crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Mm-hmm. Nice try," Wanda said knowingly.

Celeste beamed at her.

I noticed that Celeste hadn't directly answered her question about spying, though…

_Oh! _Ian gasped. _Oh! The rustlings in the fields, and in the caves…we always felt like someone was watching us, remember? Someone was! It was Celeste watching us the entire time!_

I realized how right he was, and instantly I felt so much better. _**You're right. It was Celeste all the time. Not some deranged stalker out to kill us.**_

___You know, I think the caves are a bit low on deranged stalkers at the moment. Unless you count my brother._

_**He can be deranged, certainly, but I wouldn't say stalker is the right term for it. More like…**_

__"Are you talking to Daddy?" Celeste's voice cut through our good-natured banter. I looked over at her. She still had her hands on her hips and was looking expectantly up at me.

"Yes, Celeste, I am," I told her quietly.

She smiled at me a little.

"I think we should give them some time alone," I heard Jeb say quietly from behind us.

"No," Melanie said instantly.

Celeste bounded over and jumped into Melanie's arms. Melanie scooped her up and hugged her.

Celeste wrapped her chubby little arms around Melanie's neck. "I'll be all right, Auntie Mel," she insisted. "Honest. Uncle Ben won't hurt me, and Mommy wouldn't let him, anyways."

"Anyways isn't a word," Jamie laughed at her.

Celeste stuck her tongue out at him. "Says you, Uncle Jamie!" she hollered.

I chuckled at her spirit. _**Wonder where she got that from, **_I teased Ian.

He was unabashed. _What can I say?_

_**You can say, "My genes have been a bad influence on my daughter and I am so truly sorry for being mischievous and having it rub off on her.**_

___In your dreams._

"All right, folks, show's over," Jeb rumbled. "Let's give these folk some privacy."

Jamie and Melanie objected, but Jeb raised an eyebrow. "Ben won't hurt her, you two. Wanda wouldn't let him, anyway, and neither would Ian, for that matter."

Melanie reluctantly handed Celeste to Wanda, and she grabbed Jared's and Jamie's hands before leaving the room.

Celeste waved. "Bye, Grandpa Jeb. Bye, Uncle Kyle. Bye, Aunt Melanie. Bye, Uncle Jamie. Bye, Uncle Jared."

I laughed as she made sure to say goodbye to every individual person before they left.

Wanda smiled at me a little and came over to cautiously sit next to me on the mattress. I knew she was remembering the last night she had sat so close to me. The kiss…running away…falling into the gorge. But things were different now. I would never endanger her, and neither one of us would risk hurting Celeste that way. I barely knew her, and already she had me wrapped around her finger.

"How did you know that I wasn't your Daddy?" I asked her quietly as she crawled into Wanda's lap.

She shrugged. "I could just tell," she told me. "You and Daddy are very different."

"But you've never met your daddy," I pressed her. "How could you know the difference?"

She gazed up at me with those clear blue eyes. "Because Mommy says that Daddy acts like me, and you have a lot less of a temper than I do," she said simply.

I was so startled at her answer that I burst into a loud spasm of laughter, doubling over to try to catch my breath. Ian tried to act disgruntled, but he was laughing, too.

"Well, one can't argue with that kind of logic," Wanda said quietly, and she was laughing, too.

For a minute, the scene felt comfortable and familiar. It felt like a family. Ian was very present in the back of my head, and the four of us were comfortable and together, laughing quietly. I felt home for the first time since coming to Earth.

Celeste sighed and settled back in Wanda's lap. "Could you tell Daddy that I love him, please?" she asked me very politely.

I blinked. "He can hear you," I told her after recovering from the initial shock. "He hears and sees everything that I do."

She thought about this for a moment, and then leaned forward to stare deep into my eyes, as if it were necessary to get her message across. "I love you, Daddy," she called, waving at me as though waving at a screen. Ian dredged up the word Skype, but I didn't know what it meant.

_Oh, Ben, could you please try to switch places with me again? Just for a little bit. I need to talk to my daughter. Please._

_**I…we can try…**_I was doubtful. _**Ian, be careful; I don't want either of us to disappear.**_

___Warn them first._

"Celeste, your Daddy is going to try to talk to you for a minute, okay?" I asked her, looking her straight in the eyes. She nodded.

I struggled to switch places in our mind with Ian. To my surprise, I was easily able to shift to the back of my mind and push him to the front. Again, I felt squashed and cramped, but Ian felt gloriously free, and I tried to take pleasure from his happiness.

He blinked, and I felt his eyes settle on Celeste and Wanda. "Hello, Celeste," he whispered.

Her face lit up. "Daddy?" she whispered back, her voice breaking.

In an instant, he had swept her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. I could feel the tears running down his face, and hers too as she buried her head in his shoulder.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet my daughter," he whispered in her ear, and she laughed through her crying. "Oh, you're just as beautiful as your mother."

"Ian," Wanda choked. "Oh, _Ian." _Then they were all three hugging together, never wanting to let go of one another.

I could feel his control slipping, though, and I knew that he and I would switch places again soon.

"I love you," he told them both seriously, pulling back to look at them. "I love you both so much."

"Love you, Daddy," Celeste told him, smiling bright.

"I love you, Ian," Wanda whispered.

"Uncle Ben's going to come back now, okay?" he told Celeste, kissing her forehead. Before she had a chance to respond, his hold on the control broke, and I snapped back to the front again.

I blinked dizzily and focused hard on Celeste's bright blue eyes until the world stopped spinning.

She grinned at me. "That was my Daddy!" she squealed, sounding as though she had just received the best present in the world. "I got to talk to my Daddy!"

I almost got choked up as I stared into her deep blue eyes, and I knew that I would never, ever turn her over to the Seekers. I would die before they found out about her, and Ian would, too. I was fiercely protective of this small child in that instant.

I don't know when the four of us fell asleep together—maybe after talking together for hours on end. Ian, Celeste, Wanda, and I all interacted. I wasn't able to switch and let Ian talk again, so I just spoke for him. I was surprised at how easy it had been to let him slide forward and to slide back the first time. From what I'd heard, Wanda and Melanie couldn't even do that on purpose.

I wondered if it had something to do with the nerve ending stuck in our ribcage.

When I woke up, the room was bright. Wanda was curled up against my chest, sleeping, and Celeste dozed in my arms. I looked and saw the sun high overhead.

Ian and I looked down at Celeste and Wanda, both of them looking like angels as they slept, and we smiled.

_Don't wake them up. I'm sure they've had several stressful nights now. Just let them sleep._

_**No. I'm going to go find a noisemaker and blow it all around until they get their lazy butts out of bed. **_My words dripped with sarcasm.

We thought together, looking back on our journey. Everything fit now, falling into place.

Then I realized something. _**Wait. Ian, Celeste was your big secret, right?**_

___Yes, she was._

_**Then why did I keep getting the feeling that it had something to do with Jamie?**_

___Oh, that. Well, it sort of did. For starters, I put that small part of it to the front so that it would be what you received if my wall ever slipped. And it worked; you didn't even think that it might have been a child that Wanda and I had. But it did involve Jamie a little bit. We let him be the godfather, see, so he sort of stepped in and became the substitute dad for me. At least, he was supposed to until I got back; that was our agreement the instant we found out that Wanda was pregnant._

_**Oh. That makes sense, I suppose.**_

___Jamie really loves her; I can tell. That's why he was all worried that you knew that night we pulled Wanda out of the gorge._

_**Yeah, that makes sense. **_We both gazed at Celeste, her black hair spilling across the mattress. She was breathing deeply, a small smile on her face, looking peaceful and serene.

Suddenly, Wanda stirred and sat up. She looked around frantically for a moment, and then her eyes landed on Celeste.

Her worried expression smoothed out into peace and happiness. I watched as Wanda reached over and gently stroked Celeste's hair.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" I said in a low voice.

Wanda nodded without speaking.

We both watched her for a long time. Finally, I spoke again. "How old is she?"

"She just turned three a few weeks ago," she said softly. "You missed the celebration, but I didn't want you to find out about her. I was scared. I love her more than anything, Ben."

She grinned up at me. "Well…not more than Ian."

"Of course not," I agreed.

Then something came to my attention, an older memory.

_"Wanda, he can't know about THEM."_

It was Jared's voice. I blinked, remembering when Wanda tried to sneak down to the storage hole to see me. Jared had gotten her to turn away because of…_them?_

Wait. Them? Did he mean Celeste and someone else?

Now Ian was confused, too.

"Wanda," I spoke hesitantly. "When you snuck down to the storage hole to see me, and Jared said that you couldn't because of…them…what did he mean by that?"

She froze, her face paling.

"Wanda?" I begged. "Please, tell me. I'm not going to tell anyone. You know won't."

She sighed. "Well…this is kind of complicated, so don't freak out until I tell you the full story, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed cautiously.

She sighed again and haltingly dropped another bomb on my life.

"I'm…still…pregnant."


	14. Chapter 14

**Ooh, a twist! Betcha didn't see that one comin, did you? I'm so mean…:D**

** Next chapter! FYI, there is NO sex, I'm just using terms to explain it.**

"You see," Doc explained, showing me the ultrasound as Ian and I looked on in astonishment, "for a human baby such as Celeste, it takes two parts to create one. The sperm and the egg."

I blushed slightly at this, but Doc was very matter-of-fact, and Ian was, too, so I tried to get over my squirminess.

"But something different happened at the same time that Celeste was born," Doc continued. "It seems that one of the sperm, instead of connecting with an egg, somehow connected with one of Wanda's…nerve endings, or attachments." He pointed at the screen, and I could see the silvery streak, looking like a ribbon, with a small circle in the middle. "And they have somehow inexplicably formed a fetus."

_**Fetus?**_

___A baby, Ben._

"Oh," I said aloud, and I must have sounded shocked.

Doc smiled at me. "It is Ian and Wanda's child—we have checked and double-checked. This baby, however, seems to be different from the normal human babies that we're accustomed to. For one thing, it took much longer to connect and start the growing process, obviously. I don't think it happened until after Celeste was born."

"Mommy, what's a spurn?" Celeste asked innocently.

Wanda patted her on the head. "Sperm, dear. I'll explain it someday when you're older."

"How long until the baby is born?" I asked tensely.

Doc shrugged. "We don't know, but we estimate another several months. When it's grown too big, Wanda's nerve ending will detach from the rest of her and the baby will be born."

"Won't that hurt?" I asked, scared.

Wanda tried to give me a brave smile, but I could see that she was worried about it, too. "Yes, it will," she murmured quietly. "But that's okay. This is how souls perform Motherhood. This is a much smaller scale, though. This is natural for us. It won't be nearly as bad as the stories I told you. It's only one of my cells, not all of them."

"So how will this baby be different from Celeste?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, we don't know what gender it is," Doc explained. "The ultrasound didn't show that. For another thing, we don't know what combination of human and soul the baby will be. And…well, we don't know much about it at all, really, just that it's there and it's a baby. We don't know when it will be born or what its rate of growth and intelligence will be."

"I bet that she'll be smart," Wanda said happily. "Just like Celeste."

"Celeste is very intelligent for her age," Doc agreed. I had noticed that, too—in fact, I had been a little shocked to figure out that she was only three years old.

"She?" I asked Wanda, turning to face her. "You think that it's another girl?"

"Yes," she told me, smiling and rubbing her stomach.

"What makes you so sure?" I teased her.

She grinned at me. "Mother's instinct."

"Well, Ian thinks that it's going to be a boy," I refuted for Ian. "Father's instinct."

"Touche," Wanda laughed. "But whose body is she in, Ian? I think I would know better."

"He," I corrected.

She shook her head.

We stared each other down for a minute, and then I broke her gaze and turned. "Celeste, do you think that you're going to have a baby sister or a baby brother?" I asked her sweetly.

She gazed up at me, her blue eyes clear. "Yes," she replied, and then skipped out of the room.

I was overjoyed at the fact that Ian had a daughter, and he was, too, of course. Memory after memory flooded my mind, making sense now.

I was in the cantaloupe fields when suddenly, something came to my attention.

I remembered the first time I had met Celeste, only a week ago, and she had called me Uncle Ben, and Wanda had caught on…

_Wanda crossed her arms over her chest. "Celeste Melanie O'Shea, were you in the fields again spying on Uncle Ben?"_

_**Celeste…Melanie…O'Shea?**_

___Yes. _Ian didn't sound surprised at all. _That's her full name…why?_

_**Celeste O'Shea? Are you and Wanda…married?**_

__Ian was astounded. _Yes! Of course! We wouldn't have Celeste if we weren't married!_

_**Oh. **_I felt incredibly stupid for not having seen that before. _**How did you pull off a wedding in the caves?**_

___It sure wasn't easy, I can tell you that. Kyle and I kept a bunch of old things from our mom and dad. See, he wanted some of the things that we kept for himself in case he got married someday, but I was getting married right now. So I got Mom's old ring, and he kept her old wedding dress. That was our deal. I remember hiding it where Wanda was sure to find it…_

He floated off into memories.

_I wait hesitantly, afraid and nervous and excited and overjoyed all at one time. Wanda will be back soon, and I really want her to hurry so that she can find the ring._

_ The door slides open suddenly and she steps into the room, looking beautiful as always. She gives me a dazzling smile and comes to sit down next to me._

_ "Did you and Trudy have fun in the kitchens today?" I ask her politely, trying not to let on that anything is amiss or different at all._

_ She nods and grins at me. Then she runs her fingers through her hair. I see the cue. She always does this just before she proclaims—_

_ "My hair is a mess!" she exclaims._

_ Yep._

_ And then she always asks—_

_ "Ian, could you go get my hairbrush for me, please?" she asks._

_ Yep._

_ I nod and smile at her, and then I go to the dresser to get her hairbrush. This is it. The moment of truth._

_ I grab it and head back over to our mattress. I sit down, but I don't hand her the brush with a "There you are!" like normal. I keep it, twisting the handle between my two hands._

_ "Wanda, you and I have been living in the caves together for a long time now," I tell her._

_ She smiles at me again. "Yes, Ian, we have," she says softly._

_ "And I've enjoyed every minute of it."_

_ "Me, too," she says, giggling._

_ I smile down at her. "Wanda, you know that I love you."_

_ She dazzles me with yet another smile. "I love you, too, Ian," she says quietly. "With all my heart and soul. No pun intended."_

_ "Wanda, I love you more than anything," I whisper to her. "And there's something that I need to ask you." I hand her the hairbrush._

_ She takes it, a little confused._

_ "Turn it over," I barely whisper._

_ She does so, twisting it so that the handle is facing downward, and holds it up. Then her breath catches in her throat as she sees it._

_ My mother's wedding ring is carefully nestled between the brush bristles._

_ Her hand shaking, she draws it out and stares at it in wonder._

_ "Oh, Ian," she breathes. "Is this…"_

_ I take it from her and slide down on one knee. Her eyes are beginning to fill with tears, and I know that she recognizes what I'm doing from the time she spent in Melanie's body with Melanie's memories._

_ "Wanderer." I speak quietly, but with conviction. "I love you so much; more than life itself. I've always loved you, and I always will. You are the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me." I grin at her. "And it took an alien invasion for me to finally find the person that I want to be with, but she's here now, right in front of me. I love you, Wanda, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."_

_ She's really crying now as I take a deep breath and say the words._

_ "Wanderer, my Wanderer, will you marry me?"_

_ The tears stream down her cheeks, and her eyes are wide and bright. For a moment, I'm afraid that she's going to say no._

_ But then she flings her arms around me and hugs me tightly. "Yes, yes," she gasps. "Of course." Then we're both laughing and crying and holding each other so tightly, like we're never going to let go._

_ I take her hand and gently slide the ring onto her finger, where it will stay forever._

I sighed as the memory ended, trying hard not to cry myself. These two truly belonged together.

Ian remembered the wedding. It was set up in the game room. They got a wedding dress on a raid—that is, Melanie, Wanda, Jared, and Jamie did. Ian wasn't allowed to see it. Trudy, Lily, Lucina, Melanie, and even Sharon worked hard, saving up sugar, flour, and butter rations and even getting frosting off of a raid to bake and frost a two-tier wedding cake. It was simple, but gorgeous.

The game room was covered in flowers. Ian remembered standing at the aisle. Doc was acting as the minister, because they didn't have an official one. He remembered how everyone gathered together in happiness, even Sharon and Maggie. Kyle was the best man and Melanie was the maid of honor. Trudy and Lily were bridesmaids, and Jared and Jamie were the groomsmen. They weren't able to get too dressed up, but they were in nicer clothing. The girls were even able to get matching deep blue dresses during a raid.

Then Ian remembered the decorations, the flowers, the lanterns that they had set up everywhere that gave off a soft, surreal glow. Jeb gave Wanda away.

And then Ian remembered that moment when Wanda walked down the aisle.

Her dress caused her to practically glow. Her hair waved around, partially obscured by the thin veil. The dress was silver and soft, with lace on it and ribbons that gently waved as she walked.

Ian smiled. She looked exactly like she did in her real being, a soft silver soul with gentle attachments that blew like feathery ribbons. She was absolutely, positively gorgeous.

The ceremony was small, the proceedings short. Everyone gathered in the kitchen room after that for cake and some delicious foods that they had gotten special during a raid just for the occasion. Wanda looked beautiful in her wedding dress, accepting congratulations from all her friends. She never left Ian's side.

She laughed so hard she nearly fell over when he presented her with his wedding gift, three bags of Cheetos. Nobody else understood the inside joke, but soon they were all laughing, too, without really understanding why. It was a very festive occasion, and they even pulled the tradition of smashing the wedding cake in one another's faces.

Afterward, they retired to their room and talked about the wedding, about how they were so happy that it had gone well and how overjoyed they were now. They were officially partners now, together in the truest, most human sense of the word.

And nothing could change it.

I sighed again as his memories of the wedding ended.

_**Wow. That must really have been something. For everybody, not just you two.**_

___You have no idea. _Ian felt strong and happy, refreshed by the reliving of the wonderful memories he held dear.

"Ben, you're hacking up your cantaloupe," Jamie called, and I blinked and realized that I had been slicing into the fruit instead of pulling it off of the vines. I grinned sheepishly and adjusted myself.

_We even got a camera during what we now refer to as "the wedding raid." We got practically everything on that raid—Wanda's dresses, the bridesmaids' dresses, all the food and decorations. Melanie and the others even went into the store in public. They just waited for a particularly bright day and wore sunglasses. Nobody suspected a thing._

_ They bought a camera, though. It was a Polaroid, so the pictures came right out of the camera after they were taken—thank goodness, since we didn't have the technology to develop any of them. Melanie took all the photos, made a wedding scrapbook with them, and gave it to Wanda the next week as a late wedding gift. I'll have to show you sometime._

_**I'd like that, **_I said happily, and it was true. I was beginning to realize just how close Ian and I had come. Like best friends, maybe even brothers. I was getting a lot of unexpected friends here, actually.

Then my heart began to ache as I realized that they would eventually find a way to remove me from Ian's body and send me off to a different planet.

The list of people I was growing close to here on Earth was only growing. Trudy, Lily, Geoffrey, Heath, Jamie, Jared, Jeb, Wanda, Celeste, and especially Ian. Even Kyle was warming up to me somewhat, and Melanie's glares weren't as frequent. I was gaining friends. I was getting a family.

How would I be able to bear leaving after that?


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's chapter fifteen! Wow, this story has come a long way. I really didn't expect it to go this far, honestly, and it's still nowhere near done!**

** Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! Keep it up, please; I really like to know what you think.**

The whispered conversations came up again.

I looked everywhere I could, listened in on every opportunity, but I couldn't catch a single word. They would always halt whenever I came around.

Shrugging it off, I tried to enjoy life in the caves instead. Made new friends. Played some soccer. I tried to spend as much time with Celeste as I could. She was the best of friends with Freedom and Isaiah…especially Freedom. The two were ALWAYS together, giggling and laughing and running around to play games. I think Freedom really enjoyed having a playmate. He had Isaiah, too, who joined in with their games, but the younger two were often together.

One time, though, Celeste and I were walking in the wheat fields when I saw Jared, Jamie, and Melanie grouped together in a little huddle on one end of the room. That was nothing new. What caught my interest this time was that Wanda was with them.

I let out a little growl of frustration, knowing that they would disappear the instant I came over.

Celeste looked up at me with her enormous blue eyes. "What's the matter, Uncle Ben?" she asked softly.

"Oh, it's nothing," I replied.

"Daddy, what's the matter with Uncle Ben?" she asked.

_Nothing, sweetie. He's just being a crabby apple._

"Daddy says that I'm just being a crabby apple," I responded in a monotone, and she giggled.

"But something's bothering you," she persisted. "Tell me! I bet I can help."

I frowned at her. "I'd just like to know what they're saying, but they always leave whenever I get near them," I sighed, pointing to the group.

She surveyed them for an instant and then smiled up at me. "Oh, that's not a problem," she said cheerfully.

I frowned at her in confusion.

She held up a tiny finger. "I'll be right back."

I watched as she slid into the wheat stalks without as much as a rustle. Awestruck, I saw her sneak silently through the wheat, keeping very low to the ground. I didn't hear a thing.

She kept going until she was less than a foot away from the group, and then I just barely saw her lie flat on her stomach in the dirt and hide herself in the stalks, still not making a sound.

She stayed there for one minute, two. She was on three when she turned herself quietly around and snuck back over to me.

I watched in awe and astonishment. _**Holy cow, no wonder we never found her when she was spying on us.**_

___Got that right, _Ian agreed. _Little sneak. I wonder where she learned how to spy on people like that._

She was back at my side in an instant. She carefully brushed the dirt off of her clothes so that it didn't look suspicious, straightened her hair, and led me over to a patch of wheat in the pretense of showing me something.

"They were talking about something," she said quietly. "I couldn't hear it all, but they're all leaving for something important. Uncle Kyle and Grandpa Jeb are going, too. I don't know what they're talking about." She shrugged. "Mommy was talking about having you baby sit me while they're gone, but I'll probably just go play with Freedom." She yawned, disinterested. "They're always gone these days, anyway. Freedom's noticed it, too. He says that Miss Lucina, Miss Trudy, and Miss Lily always talk about it in the kitchens. We've spied on them once or twice, but we haven't picked up on anything yet." She shrugged as she fiddled with the top of a wheat stalk.

Celeste had just given me a ton of information right there, but I tried to pretend that it was nothing. "Oh, really," I said nonchalantly, wincing at the slightly flat note in my tone.

_My gosh, NONE of you souls can lie at all, can you?_

_**Not true! We lied to the Seekers, remember?**_

___That was mostly me, anyway._

_**Fair point…**_

__"Ben?"

It was Wanda's melodic voice, and it immediately brought us both to attention.

"Oh, hey, Wanda," I said nonchalantly, even though I was actually drinking in the sight of her. I hadn't seen her closely in several days.

She smiled at me. "Where's Celeste, do you know?"

"Yeah, she's right—," I broke off mid-word as I turned to see that Celeste was no longer standing beside me.

I frowned. "That's odd. She was right here…"

Wanda smiled fondly. "It's all right. Celeste is always pulling the vanishing act," she said gently. "She's around here somewhere. Anyway, we have to go on a…a…a short raid soon." She stuttered a little, sounded nervous, and there was a slightly flat tone in her voice.

Ian was impressed. _Wow, she's getting better at lying._

I nodded, though, pretending that I hadn't noticed anything. Wanda looked a little relieved.

"And I'd really appreciate it if you could keep an eye on Celeste while we're gone, all right? Since her mother won't be here," she continued, sounding a little sad.

I nodded and smiled at her. "It'll be the first time that her father's here instead, though," I pointed out gently.

She smiled at me, dazzling me yet again. "Yes, I suppose that's true. How's Ian doing?"

"He says that he's doing just fine," I relayed.

She relaxed, smiling slightly. "That's good. So you don't need to keep her under CONSTANT supervision, but just make sure that you know where she is and that you're keeping an eye on her. It isn't hard; she and Freedom usually play together a lot. Okay?"

I nodded and smiled at her. "All right. When are you leaving?"

Wanda looked up into the mirrors in the cavern. "We're leaving right now, actually."

I smiled at her. "All right," I repeated. "Well, I hope everything goes okay. Stay safe, all right?"

She grinned at me, her eyes sparkling. "I always do."

I watched her stroll across the cavern and disappear into one of the tunnels that led to the exit. As soon as she was out of sight, I let out a little sigh.

"Why are you so sad, Uncle Ben?" I heard Celeste ask, and I turned to see her slide nonchalantly out of the wheat.

"Celeste, were you spying on us?" I exclaimed, utterly taken aback.

She grinned at me without shame and skipped off. "Freedom, they left again!" I heard her hollering as she ran into one of the tunnels.

I groaned and followed her.

_We've got our work cut out for us, _Ian lamented.

I agreed, and our prime focus became Celeste. A small part of both of us, however, was still wondering what it is they were really leaving for. What it is they were hiding from us.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello, everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a little while. It's been rough. I got three teeth pulled, and that wasn't the best experience. I've basically been just sitting on the couch eating popsicles all day.**

** But I'm here now with chapter sixteen! I hope you enjoy. I really appreciate all the reviews that I've been getting!**

** Enjoy!**

Wanda had been gone for almost two days now. Celeste and Freedom were constantly together, and they were constantly getting into trouble. The two of them were quite a pair. I was just barely able to keep them out of trouble, though.

I woke up one morning, stretching and yawning. The sunlight filtered into the room, and several of the sunbeams landed on Celeste, lighting up her face.

I smiled and carefully reached out a hand to stroke her hair. In the light, the inky black had a shine of dark purple on it. I knew mine did the same thing.

I loved watching Celeste sleep. She never looked as much like herself as when she was sleeping. Her face was fresh and peaceful, looking innocent and beautiful. I smiled again.

Just then she yawned, rolled over, and stretched her chubby little arms into the air. Her blue eyes blinked sleepily open, the long, dark, tangled lashes framing them perfectly. I smiled at her as she scrubbed at her eyes with her little fists and rolled over, stretching one way and then another.

"Good morning," I murmured, and she dazzled me with a beautiful, if somewhat sleepy, smile.

"M-m-morning, Uncle Ben," she yawned. "Is Mommy back yet?"

"I don't think so," I told her. "These raids can last up to weeks at a time, so I'm sure that it will be awhile."

Her little cherry lips turned down in a pout. "I wish that she'd come back home," she sighed in her high, sweet soprano.

"I do, too, honey," I told her, stroking her inky black curls. "I do, too. I'm sure that she will soon."

I helped her out of bed and then stepped out into the hallway while she got dressed. She just sat on the bed and turned around so that she couldn't see anything, evidently still too groggy to go all the way out to the hallway.

I gave her a ride on my shoulders all the way down the tunnel to the kitchens. By the end, she was wide awake and squealing, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. I was laughing as we rounded the corner and came into the room.

It got quiet as several people stared at us. I felt my face turn red and wished I could run and hide.

As usual, it was Celeste that broke the awkward silence. "Freedom!" she yelled, banging her fists on my head. Wincing, I lowered her to the ground, and she took off on chubby little legs to her best friend. There were several chuckles and murmured "aaaww"s from most people as he hopped off of his stool and rushed toward her. They collided in the middle of the room and fell to the ground in a tangle of legs and arms and giggles.

We ran to get our breakfast. Freedom, Isaiah, and Lucina sat at the same table as us along with Trudy, Lily, Geoffrey, and Heath. The adults talked to one another as Freedom and Celeste chatted happily away. Freedom was six now and Celeste was three.

"So how about it, Ben?" I heard, and I turned to see Lily smiling at me.

"Excuse me, what?" I asked politely, not knowing what we were talking about.

"Do you want to join us for a soccer game later?" she repeated, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Oh!" I was a little alarmed; I hadn't yet been asked to do anything of the sort.

_**Ian, what do you think?**_

___Hmm…tempting…_He was somewhat conflicted.

_**What's the problem?**_

___Well…it's just that…Kyle and I were always the unstoppable team. I don't want to ruin that tradition; no offense…_

_**No, it's fine. I understand. Hmm…wait a minute; did Kyle go on the raid with the others?**_

__We scanned the room.

"Who are you looking for, Uncle Ben?" I heard Celeste murmur to me.

I smiled down at her. "I'm just trying to find out if Uncle Kyle is here or not, sweetie," I told her in a low voice.

"Yeah, there he is," she said, pointing.

I turned in the direction her tiny finger and saw Kyle walking into the room. I recognized the girl next to him, Sunny. Ian showed me the memories of the soul that had come to us in the caves. I smiled at the memory. Ian and Sunny hadn't been particularly close, but she was a nice soul.

But what Celeste said next threw me for a loop. "See? He's right over there with Aunt Jodi."

Aunt Jodi?

_Jodi? _Ian was equally baffled. _Wait a minute. Jodi?_

They walked by our table, and it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I saw Kyle make a joke, his blue eyes sparkling. I saw her laughing, tossing her black curls over one shoulder and turning her face toward me in the process. And I saw her olive complexion and dark black eyes.

Dark black. That was it, nothing more. No silver undercurrent of a soul in them.

_Jodi! That's not Sunny, that's Jodi!_

"Aunt…Aunt Jodi?" I choked out.

Celeste looked up at me and nodded. "Yeah, that's Aunt Jodi," she said, sounding confused.

"Where's…" I cleared my throat. "Celeste, do you remember Miss Sunny? Sunlight Passing Through the Ice?"

"Remeber?" she asked, mispronouncing the word. "What do you mean? She's right over there." She pointed again, and I turned in astonishment.

Jodi and Kyle sat down next to another girl.

She was small, the same size as Jodi and Wanda. Her features were delicate and proportioned. She had a little button nose and perfect, cherry-colored lips that weren't too full in the least. Her teeth were small, white, and perfectly straight. Her skin was smooth porcelain, but her fair complexion looked good on her, ivory rather than albino. She had chin-length, glossy hair that was as dark and red as a cherry and a smattering of reddish freckles across her face and the bridge of her nose. Her eyelashes were thick and long. She was laughing at something that Jodi had said, and I saw that she had dimples as well. Her eyes…

I was immediately captivated, but I didn't know why. Her eyes were enormous. They sparkled, the most beautiful shade of green I had ever seen. Like emeralds or jade, they sparkled and twinkled with shimmering rings of silver around them.

"That's Sunny?" I choked out.

She nodded at me, looking confused. "Yes."

Before I could press her and ask her questions, Trudy appeared at my elbow with a pan full of dirty dishes. "We'll be along in a moment," she said apologetically. "Do you think you could head down to the bathing room and scrub these? Sharon would do it, but she's out sick with a cold today and she's down by Doc."

"Of course," I assured her, taking the pan. "It's not a problem."

Celeste bounded after me before I could tell her to stay, and Freedom hurried after her, grasping her hand in his. She smiled at him and tugged him along, whispering something in his ear that made him grin.

We headed down to the bathing room and looked around.

"All right, I'm going to just go in here and scrub the dishes," I told her. "You two stay far away from the pool and don't go into the river room without me, you got that?"

They nodded somberly. I headed down and began to wash the dishes. I listened periodically to try to hear the children, and I could always hear them whispering and giggling to each other whenever I stopped working. They were sitting next to the exit with their backs up against the wall.

I began to think.

Sunny? That was Sunny?

She must have found Jodi, then, which explained why Ian's brother looked so happy.

_He's got Jodi back. _We were both overcome with a rush of sentiment. _I'm so glad for him. He lost her during the invasion, and he never thought that he'd see her again._

_**I'm glad that he's happy, but I wonder what the full story is with Sunny. I thought that she had to get carted off to another planet when she found Jodi…**_

___I know as much as you do, Ben. It astonishes me, though, that we've been in the caves for so long now and haven't seen either Jodi or Sunny._

_**I don't understand it, either. Then again, life in the caves is so hectic, full, and busy…it's nice to just have a moment of quiet once in a while.**_

___Yeah, you're right. _We were both at peace in that instant, enjoying our moment of quiet.

Then we both realized at the exact same moment that it shouldn't be so quiet.

I was on my feet in an instant. "Freedom!" I hollered. "Celeste!"

There was no answer. Then I heard little footfalls and giggles from the river room.

I sprinted out as fast as my legs could carry me to see Freedom and Celeste. They were walking along the small flat line above the incline down to the boiling, raging river as if it were a balance beam. Their arms were extended out to help them hold their balance, teetering and tottering and giggling as though it were the best thing in the world.

Then an enormous amount of steam gushed out from the river. Several things happened.

I instinctively ducked away from the steam, shying away from the heat and crashing into a rock pillar in the process…the weaker one that Wanda and Kyle had loosened so many years ago. It shuddered, and I feared it would fall.

Instead, several enormous loose rocks fell instead. I tried to get away from them, but they slammed into the ground.

I winced, waiting for the pain, before I realized that, by some miracle, I hadn't been crushed. When I tried to move, though, I realized that both my sleeve and my pant leg were trapped under the rocks.

Another cloud of steam gushed up on Celeste's right, and she teetered.

I saw it coming before it even happened.

Her right leg slipped out from under her.

She let out a piercing scream that drove right through my chest and stabbed my heart.

Her arms flailed as she tried desperately to regain her balance.

She fell.

She fell off the flat stretch of rock and landed hard on the incline. It was slick with water from the steam, and she slipped and slid down toward the river. The hot, boiling, raging river that would scald her alive, sweep her far underground, kill her.

Her legs and arms scrabbled, trying desperately to find purchase on the slick rock. I fought as hard as I could to get free, but I was terribly, desperately, hopelessly trapped.

"CELESTE, NO!" I screamed.


	17. Chapter 17

**I know…I'm mean. *winky face***

** So sorry I haven't updated in forever. My life's just been super hectic recently. I should be doing better about that now.**

** FYI, Sunny in this story has nothing to do with the Sunny in my other story. I only used the same body.**

Panic roared through us, louder and more fierce than the river that the center of our existence was falling toward. Ian was fueled with such a horror that he broke away and took control over his body again. I was shoved to the back, where I could do nothing but helplessly watch as she fell…fell…

"CELESTE!" I heard, and then she jerked to a halt.

I stared in shock, and so did Ian, until we noticed the small, chubby hand that was grasping hers tightly. We looked up to see an astonishing sight. Freedom was hanging there, one arm wrapped around a pillar at the top of the incline, the other reaching down to grasp Celeste's.

_**He saved her! **_I yelled to Ian, who was too panicked to comprehend what had happened._** Freedom saved her! It's all right!**_

__Celeste was gasping and sobbing as she clung to Freedom with all her might.

"Pull me up!" I heard her wailing, and the fear in her voice pierced my heart. "Please, Freedom! Help! Please!"

"It's okay!" he yelled. "I've got you! It's all right!"

"Uncle Ben!" she shrieked. "Daddy! Help!"

With astonishing strength, Ian ripped his arm and his leg out from under the rock. I knew how strong his body was, but he knew how to use it better than I did and was therefore able to free himself. He ripped his clothing in the process, but he didn't give it a second thought as he tore across the small flat plane above the incline. He was forced to slow down, try to maintain his balance better, as he got closer to them. Finally, he was right above the rock that Freedom's hand was clinging to.

He got down on his knees. "Celeste, Freedom, it's fine," he called, and his voice was calm. I was confused, because I could feel the terror and panic raging in him, but then I realized that he was keeping himself under control for the kids' sake.

He reached down, leaning over the edge, to pull Freedom up onto the level plane. Freedom still reached down, clinging to Celeste's hand.

Then Ian reached down again. We saw Celeste staring back at us, her blue eyes wide with fright. In that split second, she could have been Wanda, dangling over the edge of the gorge, and my hand in hers is the only thing keeping her from falling to her death.

"Daddy, help me!" she yelled.

I was astonished. How can she tell us apart every time when no one else can?

Ian shook himself out of it and leaned down, grabbing her and hauling her up onto the incline with Freedom.

She clung to him, sobbing into his shirt. He rubbed her back and whispered soothing words to her. He carefully adjusted her so that he was cradling her in one arm, and then he got to his feet. He grabbed Freedom's hand firmly in his and carefully led him across the plane onto the flat ground. They hurried out of the river room and into the hallway.

We rushed around into the hall and came to a dead halt.

Kyle was standing there, his eyes wide.

"I—you—what did you see?" Ian stammered. It was the first thing that came to his mind to say.

"I saw you trying to drop Celeste into the river," Kyle snapped.

Suddenly, other people were coming up behind him in the tunnels with lights and worried voices, reminding me of the night Wanda had almost fallen into the gorge. They all heard what Kyle said just moments before, though, and in half an instant, there was complete and total uproar.

Jodi ran forward to snatch Celeste out of my grasp. Lucina dragged Freedom away from me.

Celeste let out a scream, twisting around in Jodi's arms and trying to get back to us.

"No!" Ian cried. "No, I didn't!"

"This is twice now!" someone screeched. "That soul's trying to kill us!"

"NO!" Celeste yelled.

Doc came forward in the crowd out of nowhere. He grabbed my upper arm. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said in a low voice.

Ian nodded and began to follow him.

"NO!" we heard Celeste scream. We turned around to see her fighting to get back to us, to Ian, stretching out her hands. "DADDY! DADDY!" She was complete hysterical.

"Angel, go with Aunt Jodi," he called. "I'll see you as soon as I can."

We rushed out of the cave with clamor and chaos still ringing in our ears.

"DADDY! DADDY! UNCLE BEN! DADDY!" Celeste's screams echoed down the tunnel after us, and we both winced. It was like driving a knife into our chest and twisting it around to hear her yearning for us and to not be able to go to her.

"Doc?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Why do you think Celeste is so smart?"

He turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow. We had been sitting here in the storage hole in companionable silence for some time now, just sitting and thinking together.

He gave me a little half smile now. "Because her mother's a soul."

I blinked. I hadn't thought about that.

"Wanda is, of course, very old," he continued. "She's very wise, and she's had a lot of experience. I believe that some of that went into Celeste. Perhaps not as much as what will go into the other baby, but some of it. That's why she's unusually intelligent for a three-year-old."

"Oh," I said after a pause. "That…that makes sense."

He smiled again. "I'm going to go and see if things have calmed down some," he told me. "Do you think that you'll be all right down here by yourself?"

"Yes, I'll be just fine," I assured him. "Go see if Celeste is hurt, please. Or Freedom. I hope they're okay…she fell really hard."

"I'm sure that she's all right," Doc assured me, pushing himself to his feet and heading out of the hole.

I sighed and leaned back against the wall. _**Looks like it's just you and me now. **_I was back in control of our body now, and Ian was sitting in the back corner again, distant, remote.

_Looks like it, _he sighed.

_**You've got to admit this is a coincidence. Twice now we've been caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time. First it looked like we were trying to drop your wife down into the gorge. Then it looked like we were trying to throw your daughter into the river.**_

__We both shuddered at the thought.

_**Oh, Ian, I'm too relieved for words that you managed to save her.**_

___That makes two of us, _he thought wryly. _I didn't, though. Freedom did._

_**Yeah, he did. **_I remembered how the little six-year-old had hung off the bridge to grab Celeste. The image swam before our eyes, and suddenly I was in place of Freedom and it was Wanda gripping his hand. We both shuddered again.

"I didn't," I said aloud, trying to convince myself. "I didn't try to kill them. I tried to _save _them."

"Infernal humans," a soft, amused voice said from the doorway. "They don't ever see things our way. They don't understand that we could never intentionally kill someone if we tried. Especially not two people. Especially not two people close to us. But we can't help but save those humans anyway."

I jumped, peering into the darkness and sitting up.

"It's okay," the gentle voice continued. "I'm not here to hurt you; don't worry. I'm like you, see?" A small figure stepped into the light of the blue lantern. I saw the red hair, the slight frame, the sparkling green eyes that flashed silver.

I relaxed a little. "Sunny," I whispered. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," she said softly, ambling over and sitting next to me on the ground. "I've heard quite a bit about you. It's nice to have another soul around. Wanda's gone so often, and I feel out of place here a lot."

I looked at her as she wrapped her wiry arms around her skinny knees, pulling them to her chest.

"You wouldn't think it just from watching you," I told her honestly. "You seem to fit right in here. You've got all sorts of friends here. Kyle and Jodi and…"

I stopped as I saw her smile.

"Ah, Jodi," she sighed.

"I never did hear your story," I said after a quiet moment.

She smiled a little. "No, you didn't," she agreed.

We were both silent for a moment.

_Well, is she going to tell us or not? _Ian grumbled.

"It happened after you were taken," she spoke aloud. "Directly after you were taken. Kyle was in complete and total misery, huddled in his room for days. I was so full of pain and helplessness because, as you know, my old body was so tightly tied to him that my emotions reflected his.

"I had no idea what to do. I didn't know him well enough to be able to make him feel better. I was suddenly filled with so much despair one day that it felt like I might die, and in that instant, there was a little voice in the back of my head, calming me down and telling me what to do."

"Jodi," I whispered.

"Yes, exactly," she agreed, smiling. "Jodi."

I noted the tenderness in her eyes. "You really love her, don't you?"

Sunny nodded. "She's basically my older sister," she explained. "You see, we were short on supplies when I found Jodi, and they weren't able to remove her right away. She was in my head for almost two months before they went on another raid and they took her out." She grinned up at me. "You've seen firsthand what that can do to two people. Like Wanda and Mel. And you and Ian."

"Yes, Ian is like a brother to me," I agreed, and was surprised to find that it was true. I hadn't really realized just how close we'd gotten to one another until now.

We were silent for a long time.

"Is Celeste okay?" I asked at last, breaking the silence.

"Yes, she and Freedom are both fine," Sunny told me. "Shaken up, but not hurt. They should recover soon. She's been asking for you, but it's still chaos out there. All your friends are vouching for you, but there are still a few people…" She shook her head. "They'll never learn. Souls don't hurt others." I was surprised to hear bitterness in her voice, horrible and deep like I'd never heard before.

She herself looked alarmed when she heard it. We gazed at each other for a long moment.

I could have sworn I saw a tear sparkling in one large green eye before she slammed them both shut, biting down on her lip. Without another word of explanation, she got to her feet in one fluid movement and was gone.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello again!**

** I know I haven't updated in a long time again. I'm really sorry I haven't been doing it as frequently, but I've got some exams coming up, and my life has been really busy and hectic.**

**BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP. I never give stories up.**

**Please just hang in there with me, I'm doing my best to get everything done. I will, though. I promised. And I don't quit.**

**I was pretty excited for this chapter; I really like it a lot. I'm sure you'll figure out why as soon as you read it; this one was a fun one to write.**

** Enjoy!**

I sat down in the storage hole for awhile longer, not knowing exactly what to do. I didn't want to leave, but I didn't want to stay here. I figured that I didn't have a choice for the time being. I was literally in the dark as to what had happened because the lantern didn't provide a lot of light.

There was a scuffling noise near the entrance, and I stiffened immediately. My niece should not be near us right now.

"Celeste?" I called, sitting straight upright.

There was no answer.

"Celeste, you need to leave and go talk to Uncle Kyle now."

"Don't know how much Uncle Kyle would be able to tell her right now that she wouldn't rather hear from her Uncle Ben," a rough voice said from the entrance to the cave.

I relaxed and leaned back. "Jealous, Uncle Kyle, that Celeste might have a new favorite uncle?" I asked him, but he could tell that I was teasing.

"No," he snorted, coming over and sitting down next to me. "Too late for that; Jamie's been her favorite since birth."

I laughed a bit.

He was quiet for a long time. "So…is Ian still in there, then?" he asked bluntly after a long time.

"Yes," I answered immediately. Direct question, direct answer. I was sure of the answer.

He paused.

"Can I…can I talk to him?" he asked after a pause. His voice was different. It was rougher and thicker with emotion.

"You sure can," I told him. "Give me one second."

I closed my eyes as tightly as I could and focused hard. Ian and I shifted places, and I noticed suddenly that it was getting easier every time we tried it.

Ian opened his eyes, giving an odd little shudder.

"Hey, bro," he said at last, his voice quiet.

"Hey," Kyle whispered back.

I didn't know what happened. One second they weren't even looking at each other, and the next they were both hugging each other tightly in that odd thing that earthlings seemed to call a man-hug. They were both crying silently, not admitting it to one another but doing it all the same.

I retreated as far back as I could, trying to give the two brothers their own moment. It made sense. They hadn't seen each other in so long, and they were the closest pair of brothers I had ever seen.

After awhile, they pulled back.

"How long can you stay in control?" asked Kyle.

"I don't know," Ian answered. We both focused, but it was so much easier this time than it had been. "I think I'll be able to do it for awhile."

"Up for some soccer?" asked Kyle with an odd mischievous tone.

"Pass it! Pass it!" I heard one of them yelling. Ian twisted his body and kicked the ball as hard as he could. Geoffrey caught it neatly with his foot and kicked it down the field. Kyle and Ian flanked him on both sides. Geoffrey kicked it over to Ian, and Ian and Kyle passed it back and forth all the way down the field. Then Kyle gave it an extra-hard kick over to Ian, who shot it into the goal. Maggie lunged for it, but it soared between her fingertips and into the goal.

"We won! We won!" Lily cheered, jumping up and down. It appeared that she had healed almost entirely from losing Wes, and she had some of that cheerful energy back that she had lost.

The entire team cheered and hugged one another.

"Okay, one last game?" a voice asked eagerly.

"Hey, Ian?" a soft voice asked. We both turned to see Sunny, Heath, and Trudy standing there and smiling at us.

"Hey, guys" he said shortly. Ian was trying not to talk whenever possible; he was getting tired and his control was beginning to slip, and they could both feel it.

"Well, we wanted to know," Heath said nervously, "if we…if we could play a game with Ben."

Everyone was silent in half an instant.

I didn't know how Ian was going to react to that. I thought he might be jealous or angry and refuse, so it surprised me when I felt both surprise and pleasure emanating out from him.

_You see? _he thought at me. _They're starting to care about you! They are starting to accept you, too. They are. You've got friends here, too, Ben._

_**I don't know how to play soccer!**_

___I do, silly. Follow my lead._

"Sure," he said aloud, smiling at them to show them that it wasn't a problem. "Hold on."

He fell back and I moved to the front, both of us experiencing some relief. Ian would have slipped back sooner or later, anyway.

Heath, Sunny, and Trudy looked delighted. There were, however, a few sour faces in the audience. Aaron, Brandt, and Maggie especially looked as though they had just seen or experienced something utterly repulsive.

I was careful at first, hesitant. I didn't know whether or not to trust my own body, Ian's body. I didn't know what to do.

But Ian and the others both helped me. They told me, he showed me, and soon enough, I was getting the hang of it. I grinned as I kicked and dribbled the ball up and down the fields. I saw all those friendly faces whizzing by in a blur; Geoffrey, Heath, Lily, Trudy, Sunny.

But I hit a few faces that were sour.

Aaron. Brandt. Andy. Sharon. Maggie.

I pushed them to the back of my mind and focused on the welcoming people. I had never felt so at home before, so accepted and alive. For the first time, I was someone with friends. Someone with a _family._

_ Yes, you are, _Ian agreed, smiling with me. We had become like brothers; he hadn't been lying when he said that, and neither had I. _We've both been accepted back into the caves all over again. _He was really, truly happy right in this instant, maybe for the first time since I had been inserted.

We were both happy. Surrounded by our friends, our family, our community, we were finally at home. At peace.

But as the game ended (we scored the winning goal) and were congratulated by our teammates, those few sour faces rose up in the back of our minds.

And we couldn't rid ourselves of the premonition that something bad was about to happen.

"Daddy! Uncle Ben!" Celeste sat bolt upright as I entered the room, and we both smiled at her. She hesitated, and then repeated, "Uncle Ben!"

_How DOES she do that?_

Ignoring Ian, I hurried to her side. She was sitting on the bed expectantly, and it appeared that she had been waiting for us. I gave her a tight hug. "Celeste, I'm so glad you're all right! You had us both scared."

"I'm all right, Freedom saved me," she told me. She acted as if it were no big deal, but I could see the wariness behind her blue eyes and knew that it wasn't an experience she cared to repeat again.

I checked her all over for injuries, even though several people had already done so. Then I sat her down on the bed and gave her a stern lecture on listening to people and not doing things without permission. She appeared very attentive, but I wasn't sure how much she got out of it.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she said when I was finally finished. She sounded bored. "Can we go to lunch now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sure," I said, standing up and lifting her up with me. "I think they're having mashed potatoes today. They've been saving them for awhile."

Her eyes lit up. "Yummy! Mashed potatoes!" she exclaimed, looking excited.

We entered the lunchroom, and I instinctively knew that something was wrong.

Aaron, Brandt, Andy, Maggie, and Sharon were all glaring at me.

Sharon's eyes fell to Celeste's hand in mine, and she made a noise of revulsion in the back of her throat.

Celeste frowned at her, and we both went to step forward, but Aaron and Brandt were blocking our way.

"Look at that," Brandt sneered. "Isn't that pathetic. The parasite tried to kill her, and already they're best friends again."

"I didn't try to kill her," I said in a low voice, tightening my hold on her. "I would never—,"

"It seems suspicious to me," Aaron interrupted, his eyes narrowing. "Twice now. It's a mighty big coincidence that you'd be stuck in the wrong place, in the wrong time, twice in a row."

"You can't seriously think that I would ever—,"

"Spare us your lies!" Sharon spat. "Honestly, we know that you don't care for either of them, so stop pretending! You're hurting all of us. I don't know why we bothered to show you her in the first place if you're just going to murder her off."

I was stung by the words, but Ian was fairly shaking with fury. A red haze settled over our vision, and he abruptly surged forward and took control.

He grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes off of a nearby plate and flung them at Sharon as hard as he could.

Everyone in the entire room let out a gasp as they smacked her square in the face. Her mouth dropped open as she wiped it from her eyes.

Every face in the room looked different. Stunned. Awed. Angry. Furious. Disgusted.

And then I looked down to see Celeste grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"FOOD FIGHT!" she screamed gleefully.

Before I could react, Sharon had grabbed a handful of the potatoes and thrown them back at me. Ian ducked instinctively, and he was over his spout of temper in half a second. I was back in control, but it was too late. The potatoes whizzed over my head and smacked Kyle straight in the face.

"Oh, crap it hard, it's on now," someone muttered.

Furious, Kyle grabbed one of the hamburgers and flung it across the room, but it missed and hit Brandt instead.

And in that instant, it was full-blown freaking _war._

Food was flying everywhere. I looked around at the faces in the crowd, not knowing whether to scream or laugh. Ian was laughing.

More potatoes slapped me in the side of the face. I turned to see Sunny grinning at me.

_Go! _Ian laughed. _Grab some food. Fight back!_

_**Shouldn't we preserve it? **_I asked worriedly. _**This is good food going to waste!**_

___If you don't waste it, someone else will!_

Well, he had a point there.

I gave in, laughing, and grabbed some string beans. I chased Sunny all around the room, pelting her with missiles.

There were shrieks and laughter everywhere. I saw Lucina fighting her way through the crowd with a ladle of string beans in one hand and a pile of hamburger patties in another. Sharon and Maggie had teamed up behind the counter, using utensils as catapults to fling the potatoes across the room. Kyle, Brandt, and Aaron had given up on food and were in a wrestling match on the floor.

Trudy, Lily, Geoffrey, and Heath were pelting each other with the string beans. I saw Doc, Candy, and Paige throwing hamburger buns at each other.

Then I heard a shriek of laughter and turned. Celeste, Freedom, and Isaiah had teamed up together and were moving around the room keeping up a steady stream of potatoes and beans. I saw Celeste giggling, her entire face lit up. The other kids looked equally thrilled.

It absolutely melted my heart. These kids didn't get a lot of chances for fun in the caves, and seeing them so happy made me feel for the first time that I was doing something right with this. Grinning, I threw the green beans wildly into the crowd with renewed strength.

Suddenly, Celeste was at my side, and I scooped her up. We both jumped onto the table. I put her on my shoulders, and she fit exactly between the blades as though she had been designed for it. Giggling, laughing, squealing, and kicking her feet, she threw potatoes, hamburgers, beans, anything she could get her little hands on. Everyone was shouting and laughing and throwing food.

Then a shrill voice carried above the crowd.

_"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"_

Everyone simultaneously froze in whatever position they were in. Trudy, Geoffrey, Heath, and Lily were all poised in attack mode. Freedom and Isaiah were on the floor where they had been previously rolling around in a pile of mashed potatoes. Kyle, Aaron, and Brandt were on the floor in a pigpile. Aaron was on the bottom. Kyle was sandwiched in the middle with Aaron in a headlock. Brandt was on top of both of them, with a fistful of Kyle's hair in one hand and both of Aaron's arms in the other.

Sunny screeched to a halt and toppled to the floor by accident.

And I was poised on the table, one arm drawn back, ready to throw a handful of mashed potatoes. Celeste had a fistful of my hair in one hand and a pile of green beans in her other one.

Everyone was stock-still, staring at the doorway, where Melanie, Jared, Wanda, Jamie, and Jeb were in the doorway.

"Oh," Sunny said nervously from the floor. "Look at that, guys. The raiders are back."

Everyone shifted, staring at the floor, gulping and chuckling nervously.

"Oh, hey, Wanda," I squeaked. Her hands were on her hips, one eyebrow was raised, and all four-foot-ten of her looked positively furious at that moment.

"H-hi, Momma," Celeste squealed, releasing the pile of green beans. They fell to the table.

She glared at all of us. _"What _is going on here?" she repeated.

None of us really had an answer.


	19. Chapter 19

**Here we are with chapter nineteen! Wow, this story has come a long way. I'm still working out a few kinks, but I think that I know, somewhat, how this sucker is gonna end. It won't be for awhile yet, though, so just hang in there!**

** Here we go. Enjoy! I hope you liked the last chapter; it's one of my favorites. FOOD FIGHT! Heh, heh. :D**

"Well, at least Mama's home," Celeste sighed.

"That's true," I agreed. "That's a perk."

"Not much of one," my little niece grumbled.

"Well, I kind of expected that she would ground _you, _but she shouldn't have the authority to ground _me," _I complained. "Honestly, I'm a grown man."

"Mama says that she's the Mama and she's allowed to ground the Daddy if he's really ag-ag-aggavatin her," she said carefully, stumbling over the big word.

"Aggravating, sweetie," I corrected, and then I sighed. "I don't honestly believe that it is legal, and if it is, it shouldn't be."

"You _are _sort of the one who started the food fight," Celeste pointed out.

I gave her a pointed look. "I'm not. Your father is. So complain to him."

"But he's _inside _of you," she pointed out. "I can't yell at him without feeling like I'm yelling at _you!"_

"That's a fair point," I agreed.

After we had sheepishly explained to a furious Wanda about what had happened with the food fight, she had sighed. She then handed us, Aaron, Brandt, Kyle, and Sharon some cleaning supplies and made us clean up the entire mess. We were grumpy at first, but Kyle began to help thaw the ice between us. By the end, we were reviewing the best parts of the food fight and laughing. Together. I didn't know for certain—and goodness knows, they definitely weren't best friends with us both yet—but I thought that they might hate me less now. And I thought they might have believed me now…about me not trying to kill Wanda and Celeste and all.

When we were finished cleaning, Wanda took us both to the bath room. She bathed Celeste while I bathed myself—everything was pitch black, which kept it from being awkward—and had made sure to remove all traces of the food on all three of us (she had helped with the cleanup).

Then she had announced that she was grounding us both for the evening and ordered us back to my room to stay and think about what we did.

"And anyway, _you're _the one that yelled out 'food fight' which is really what started it all, so if you want to play the blame game, I can come right back at you," I reminded her. She pouted at me, and I pouted right back at her.

"My two children," I heard a familiar voice sigh from the doorway. We looked up and smiled to see Wanda standing there. She rubbed her stomach and cooed to it, "Save you, of course, darling."

"Mommy, I wish you'd stop talking to your stomach," Celeste complained.

I gave her a look. "Has she done this before?"

"Yeah, she does it _all the time," _Celeste sighed. The exasperation in her tone let me know that she wasn't exaggerating.

I smiled at the two of them and gave Wanda a friendly hug, trying to suppress my urge to do more than that. Ian tensed up, trying to suppress his rush of dislike toward me because of it.

This was becoming a routine for both of us. It was so hard, because I knew that I _didn't _love Wanda, and Ian knew that he _didn't _hate me.

Gaaaargh.

_We've got to find some sort of solution for this, _Ian said solemnly. _It's much too crowded in here!_

I agreed. Our head wasn't big enough for two people.

_**Just focus on what's going on right now, **_I told him. _**I'm not disagreeing with you by any means, but if there's nothing that we can do as of right now, let's just focus on Wanda and Celeste.**_

__Ian sighed. _You're right. As usual._

"So, does your visit mean that we're ungrounded now?" I asked her hopefully.

She laughed and leaned against the door. "I guess I'm too soft to keep you guys in here all night," she told us, grinning fondly at us. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Just as long as you know what you did was wrong, and you thought about it and thought about what you could have done differently and what you'll do differently next time in case it happens again—,"

"More punctuation, please," I interrupted. "Preferably commas. Even more preferably, periods."

She smiled at both of us, leaning down and hugging Celeste tightly. I joined the group hug.

"Welcome home," I murmured. "Ian and I missed you. A lot."

"I did, too!" Celeste interjected, her hands on her hips.

We both laughed. "Of course you did," Wanda assured her daughter. "I missed you three so much, too."

"So…did you guys unload from the raid already?" I asked. I frowned and calculated. "It hasn't been as long as the normal raids…"

"No," Wanda agreed. I watched her carefully. She swallowed and then continued. "We…er…cut it a little short this time…because we already had some food back home."

I nodded thoughtfully, pretending to believe her. I would, too, if Ian didn't point out that she swallowed three times, blinked several more, twitched a few times, and had an odd flicker in her eyes.

_**You're pretty good at determining when someone's lying.**_

___I'm HUMAN. Of course I'm going to be better than you at it. Just pretend to go along with it…for now._

_**What are you planning on doing?**_

___If she won't tell me what's the matter later on, then I'm planning on using my adorable daughter's spying skills to figure out what's going on._

_**Don't your morals have a problem with that?**_

___My morals are awfully protective of my wife, and if something's wrong and she's in danger, I say that my morals can go and die in a hole. I have to find out what's going on, Ben. It's very likely that it's nothing, but just in case it isn't…_

_**I see where you're going with this.**_

__"That makes sense," I said aloud. Wanda smiled at me—in relief, I noticed.

Then she reached down to grab Celeste's hand. "All right, guys. I'm here to take you down to dinner…" She gave us both a stern look. _"Provided _you can go one meal without starting another food fight. Is that understood?"

"Understood," Celeste and I said somewhat sheepishly.

I froze and stared at the doorway. Ian was looking in that direction, too.

Jamie, Jeb, Wanda, Melanie, and Jamie were in a tight knot in the entrance to the dining hall. They were whispering to each other in hushed voices. And they all looked extremely worried.

_I'm fairly certain that Wanda isn't going to be telling us what they're up to anytime soon._

_**I'm fairly certain that you're right. Celeste?**_

___Celeste._

We both looked around for Ian's adorable daughter, but we didn't see her anywhere.

Then Ian chuckled grimly.

_**What?**_

___We didn't need to ask her. That girl has my eye for a potentially dangerous situation. Look._

I looked and saw Celeste creeping toward the little knot slowly and quietly. She was pressed up against the doorway near them, listening hard.

As they continued to talk, Celeste's eyes widened. Her expression grew more and more worried and panicked.

_What is it? What's the matter with her? What are they saying? _Ian and I were both frantic.

Just then, Wanda turned and saw her daughter. Wanda's expression changed to a stern one, and she walked over and knelt next to Celeste. After exchanging a few words, Wanda smiled reassuringly at her daughter and said a few more things.

Still looking troubled, Celeste hurried out of the room.

Ian and I both frowned.

_What's the matter with her? What did she hear?_

_**It's all right, **_I tried to reassure Ian. _**We'll just see her later and try to figure out what's going on. We'll just ask her what she heard. I'm sure that she'll be more than willing to tell us about it.**_

___You're right. _Ian and I were slightly mollified as we finished our meal.

It seemed, however, that some people were conspiring behind our back to keep Celeste away from us. Celeste and Freedom were sent to go and play together in the game room directly after dinner while I was sent to go work in the western fields. That kept us there until it was time for her to go to sleep, and I was just barely able to say goodnight to her before she was whisked off again.

It happened like that all week. I barely saw her, and when I did, there either wasn't enough time to ask her what she'd overheard, or someone else was always around.

At the end of the week, we resolved together to go talk to Wanda about what had really happened during that raid. Something had, that was for sure, and we intended to find out what.

One night, we decided to go and visit Wanda in the room she and Melanie shared.

We knocked softly on the door after traveling down the tunnels. I peered inside and was relieved to see that Melanie wasn't there; only Wanda.

She looked up and smiled at me. "Hello, Ben!" she said cheerfully. "Come on in."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I walked inside the room, carefully closing the door behind me. I sat down on the mattress beside her.

She ran her hands through her tangled hair. She sighed. "My hair is a mess," she said quietly, smiling at me. "Would you go get my hairbrush?"

I started. Instantly, Ian and I were thrown into memories. She had said the same thing every night just before we went to bed. It was what she had said when Ian proposed. There were so many happy nights centered around those few small phrases.

"Uh-uh, sure," I stuttered.

I carefully got up and grabbed her hairbrush off her nightstand. Handing it to her, I abruptly sat down again, not trusting myself. Ian was strangely happy. He was slightly jealous, but nothing unmanageable. He just watched his wife brushing her hair as though it were every other night. As if I hadn't invaded his head.

I frowned at that line of thinking. I didn't like it, but it was true.

That might have been why I didn't like it.

I took a deep breath.

_Now. Do it now. It's harder for her to lie if we catch her off-guard._

"Wanda, what really happened during that raid?" I asked quietly.

She started, staring at me.

"Wh-wh-what makes you think that anything happened?" she stammered.

I was about to press further, but I saw a fire in her eyes.

_Just give up, _Ian sighed. _She's not going to tell us anything. Celeste is our last hope._

Stubbornly, I opened my mouth to say more, but then there was a disturbance. The door flew open and Kyle rushed in.

"Ben," was all he said. He looked pale, paler than usual.

I got to my feet in half an instant. "What is it? Kyle, what's wrong?" I was frightened. He didn't look so good.

"It's…it's…" He shook his head. "Someone's here to see you. I don't know who they are. I need you to come with me and see if you recognize…"

"Absolutely," I said immediately, getting to my feet in an instant. Wanda, looking concerned, followed us out of the room, and we didn't have the time to protest.

We hurried down one tunnel after another until we got to the game room, where they must have brought the visitor.

I was utterly mystified, not knowing who on earth could have come to see me.

_You're right. _Ian was equally baffled. _We know that it definitely isn't someone to see ME, because Kyle said "Ben" when he came to tell us. I wonder…_

We rounded the corner and came to a dead halt.

A girl turned around to face us. She was a young teenager, really a girl, only sixteen or seventeen. Judging by her skin tone, she appeared to be somewhat Hispanic.

As she whirled, her long hair swished around with her. It was thick, black, and glossy, and it hung down to the last vertebrae in her spine. She stared at me with eyes that were wide, almond-shaped, and the brightest green I had ever seen.

I was alive like I hadn't ever been here yet in half an instant. I had never met this girl, but I knew in half an instant exactly who she was. I had been with her, next to her, for almost all of my lives. She was, quite literally, my other half.

My knees went weak.

"Petals," I whispered.

Bending Petals. My sister.


	20. Chapter 20

**I know, I know, I'm so mean :D A lot of you have been telling me to go on a words diet in my stories and to lay off the cliffhangers, but I just can't help myself! That's what makes it so fun. For me.**

** Thank you, again, for bearing with me during this time of slow updates.**

** BUT I WILL NOT QUIT.**

** I won't. I promise you that.**

** Enjoy chapter twenty! Things are about to get intense!**

** And if you thought they were intense already? You ain't seen nothing yet.**

"Bending Leaves," she gasped, trembling all over.

Then her knees buckled and she sank to the ground.

I was there in half an instant, holding her up, supporting her.

"Petals, you—what—how?" I spluttered. "What are you _doing _here? How did you find me? How did you know where I was?"

My tone was not accusatory; on the contrary, it was delighted. I was so happy to see her again. I felt full, whole, my whole being singing the way it always did when I was next to my twin sister. It had been so long that I'd almost forgotten the feeling.

"How did you find me?" I repeated, utterly baffled. Ian was too stunned for words.

Her green eyes, which had been wheeling about wildly, focused on me. They grew brighter and brighter in intensity, and I almost had to shield my own eyes.

"I don't know," I heard her whisper faintly.

Then they rolled back in her head, and she went limp.

I shook her slightly. "Petals?" I said frantically. _"Bending Petals!"_

"What's wrong? What's the matter with her?" Wanda cried fearfully, kneeling next to the young girl and touching her hand.

"I don't know," I gasped. "We have to get her to Doc."

I scooped her up into my arms in one quick movement, and then I was on my feet and running, running as fast as I could toward the southern tunnel. I stared down at my sister, but her face was fearfully still.

_**Please, **_I prayed. _**Please let her be all right.**_

"Ben…" Doc finally leaned back. "I'm so sorry, but I don't know what's wrong with her."

"What?" I spluttered, disbelieving. "What do you _mean, _you don't know what's wrong with her?"

"Exactly that," he said grimly, taking his stethoscope off. "I don't know. Something definitely is, all right—,"

"Oh, _thanks _for picking up on that one, Sherlock," I snapped.

"—but this type of illness is foreign to me," he continued calmly, ignoring my sarcasm. "I don't know how to treat it. And I don't want to hurt her further."

I slumped back in my chair, staring helplessly at my sister's lifeless form.

"What are we going to do?" I asked miserably, feeling more helpless than ever.

Doc sighed. "I don't know what we can do, Ben," he said sadly. "I don't suppose you know how to treat this illness?"

I shook my head, feeling terrible. "She had this when she was a Flower, too," I whispered. "They didn't know how to treat it, then, either."

We were silent for a long, long time.

"I have to go back," I muttered at last.

Doc turned to stare at me with an incredulous look. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"I have to go back," I repeated in a louder voice. I squeezed my eyes shut, not knowing quite how to say it.

"Back _where?" _Doc spluttered.

"I have to go back to my old house," I told him sadly. "There was information on how to fix this disease on my computer. I have to go back and get it."

"Ben, we can't just let you go waltzing back to your old home! The Seeker will still be looking for you. Now, if it were another town, it would be different, but this is where you originated from! Of course they'll be waiting for you to come back to it!"

"Then what do you suggest, Doc?" I demanded, gesturing to her helpless, limp body. "Are you suggesting that I just sit here and let my sister die, doing nothing? I'm not going to do that. I _can't _do that." I was abruptly choked off by my own sobs. "She is my other half. Literally. If she dies, then I will die, too."

Doc stared at me for a long time, trying to measure how serious I was, I suppose.

"Physically?" he said quietly.

I shrugged. "Emotionally. Which I suppose would kill me, physically, too."

We stared each other down for a long, long time.

"The others aren't going to like this," he muttered at last, dragging a hand through his hair.

"I don't give a crap what the others think," I snapped.

He blinked at me before turning toward the door. "I'll talk to Jeb," he said with a resigned sigh.

I felt a grim victory. I would make them let me leave. I would force them.

I stared down at my sister's still form, fearing the worst. I carefully brushed her pretty hair away from her face.

_**I won't let you die, **_I silently vowed. _**I'll find a way to let you live. I promise.**_

"What's going on?"

"Why are we here?"

"It's one in the morning! I was trying to get some sleep!"

The complaints and shouts all tumbled over one another in a tumult of chaos. I winced and tried not to hear them, knowing that the people wouldn't be much happier once I told them exactly what they were doing here.

_We have to do it, _Ian insisted. _We've got to save her. _He was unnaturally protective of her, too, and I knew that it was because he was sharing a body with me. It was the same way I irrationally loved Wanda when I knew I really didn't…not that way, at least.

"Hey, everyone!" Jeb bellowed. "Shut up!"

_**I was going to go with a simple "Attention, please," but I guess that's one way to put it.**_

___You souls. Always so polite. _There was a teasing tone to Ian's voice.

"Ben has some news for us."

A few faces in the crowd immediately became sour, but I ignored them and looked instead at the ones who were open, friendly, curious. They would be willing to hear from me. I had very few enemies here anymore; I'm sure they would let me go out if I explained about my sister.

"Th-thanks, Jeb," I stammered. He hopped off the rock that he had been standing on and gestured for me to climb up so that everyone could see me and hear me.

I gulped.

_**Petals. Think of Petals.**_

__I carefully clambered onto the rock/stage and cleared my throat, looking out at the audience.

"H-hi, everyone." I couldn't stop stuttering.

_Take a deep breath. Collect yourself. Think of Bending Petals. Her fate is relying on you right now. Push through._

I carefully calmed myself down as best as I could before continuing.

"I don't know _all _of you," I began, "but I know a lot of you. And a lot of you know me. You know my story. You know about all of my lives. And you know about a very special person in my life."

A few faces understood. A few faces knew who I was talking about. Most, however, did not.

I took another deep breath. "My sister. Bending Petals."

"I thought that souls didn't have the same relations as humans," interrupted Paige, sounding confused. "I didn't think it was possible for you to have a sister."

"This isn't in very good detail, but…" I ran over a quick explanation of my Mother's split cell. After I was done, some more people looked like they understood.

I continued. "And my sister was sent to Earth. She had a disease as a Flower, and she still has it now." I blinked back tears as best as I could. "She recently came to the cave, and something is seriously wrong with her. She—she won't wake up." I choked back a sob, listening to how I sounded like a four-year-old. "There is information on the computer in the house I used to live in. That information can save her life. I am therefore requesting your permission to return to civilization and get the information that will heal her."

There was dead silence for a moment. Then everyone exploded, talking all at once. Their words ran over each other.

"Let him go!"

"No way! He'll betray us all!"

"Ben wouldn't do that!" Wanda shrieked loudly.

"Perfect excuse, isn't it?" Maggie sneered, and everyone quieted. "How do we know this parasite is telling the truth? This is his perfect alibi."

Abruptly, I was furious. It was like Ian had been in the cafeteria when the food fight happened. My limbs trembled as a red haze settled down over my vision.

_"You sick woman!" _I screamed without thinking, and it echoed through the room. Maggie froze, staring at me with a mixture of disbelief, shock, and anger.

"I know that you've been through very tough times because of the invasion," I yelled. "I know that. But that doesn't mean that you have to turn into some sort of bitter harpy that hates every single soul out there. We're not all bad! And you know for a fact that we can't lie. I wouldn't lie about this! My sister is the most important person in my life. So you need to just _get over your freaking prejudice, _all of you! If it were anyone else, _anyone, _you would let them go in an instant, but just because I have silvery eyes, you don't trust me. Yes! I am a soul! But that doesn't change the fact that I would never betray you! That doesn't change the fact that I am as human as everyone in this room and I care about all of you. That doesn't change the fact that if you don't let me go, an innocent soul will die! An innocent _person will die! _I knew that humans were brutal, but I didn't think that you'd sink as low as to let someone die in the next room when you know that you have the means to save them!" My voice broke as I struggled not to cry.

"This is my _sister _that we're talking about! I am friends with most of you. I've formed a community, a family, unlike any other I've ever had. And I am thrilled that most of you are friends with me, so I ask you. I beg of you. Please. Stop thinking of her as a soul, as an alien, as an invader, for just _one second, _and think of her as 'Ben's sister.' That's it. That's all she is. She's my sister. If it were any of your siblings, you'd want to save them, wouldn't you? She's _dying! _If she dies, then I will, too."

Everyone was silent now, staring at me.

"Please," I choked out. "Please, let me save her." My knees were weak, and I nearly collapsed right there on the rock.

There was no movement in the crowd, none at all.

Then Sharon spoke up; Maggie was still standing stock-still.

"Why should we?" she snapped. "Why should we let you go out there and abandon us? Why should we believe you at all?" Her voice was weak, though, and it quavered.

But there were still sour, angry faces. No one was moving. I was filled with dread. I needed an ally, someone, anyone, and _now._

Then there was a tiny movement. Someone was making their way calmly through the crowd as though they had all the time in the world.

I didn't see who it was until they broke through the front lines and stepped up.

Sunny climbed up onto the rock next to me, smiling at me and brushing her red hair out of her face. She stepped up next to me and, to my astonishment, slipped her little hand into mine and gave it a comforting squeeze.

We stared into one another's eyes for a long time, hers shimmering and sparkling with some unreadable emotion. Then she turned to face the crowd, squaring her shoulders.

"I will stand with Ben," she said in a loud voice, a surprisingly loud one that carried over the crowd. "He's right. If it were anyone else, we would do it in an instant, and that isn't fair."

My heart warmed in that instant. I had a friend. And that seemed to be all I needed.

I tightened my hand around hers, and then more people started coming forward and announcing that they supported me. Trudy, Geoffrey, Heath, Lily, Paige, Jeb, Jared, Jamie, Melanie. Even Andy, holding Paige's hand, which surprised me.

Soon a larger crowd than the smaller one had gathered around me. Then I felt Wanda step up onto the rock. She grabbed my other hand tightly, smiling up into my eyes. I smiled back at her.

Celeste, who had come from who-knows-where, climbed up next to Wanda and held her mother's hand. "Let my uncle save his sister," she said in a loud voice that carried and made everyone fall silent again. She reached a hand out and tenderly pressed it against Wanda's stomach, which was getting bigger and bigger with every passing day. "If my baby brother or sister was out of Mommy's stomach right now and they were sick, you would do something about it, wouldn't you?" Her blue eyes filled with tears. "This isn't any different."

Everyone was silent.

"Majority rules," Jeb said in a gruff voice, and I was surprised to see tears glistening in his eyes at Celeste's words. "You can go, Ben."

Instantly, relief washed over me. "Thank you," I said quietly. "Thank you so much, everyone. I will not let you down. I promise."

Sunny smiled at me as everyone began to chatter again. Wanda hugged me tightly before whispering quickly, "I have to get Celeste off to bed," and waited until I nodded before scooping up her daughter and hurrying off.

Then it was just Sunny and I standing there on the rock, her hand still entwined with mine. I stared into her eyes feeling mesmerized. She stared back. There was a faint notion in the back of my mind that I should let go of her hand, but my urge to cling to it more tightly overruled it. Ian drew back as far as he could, trying to give me my space and trying to get away from the uncomfortable feeling of someone else's hand in his at the same time.

Sunny broke the silence at last. "Can I meet your sister?" she whispered.

I smiled at her. "Of course," I murmured back.

Together, still holding hands tightly, we hopped off the rock in one smooth movement and hurried out of the game room, toward the southern tunnel, toward my sister.


	21. Chapter 21

** Hi, all!**

** Thank you so, so much for all the wonderful reviews that you've been sending me. We hit the 300 mark! Yay!**

** Here's chapter twenty-one; man, this thing is getting long.**

** Like it? Hate it? Review!**

"So this is your sister?"

"Yes, it is."

I leaned down to touch my sister's face, to hold her hand. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, as though I were afraid that she would suddenly vanish into thin air if I looked away.

"Your little sister…your _twin _sister," Sunny corrected herself, smiling briefly. She touched Petals' face. "It's so easy to think of her as younger when she's in a different body like this."

"Sunny, I need you to promise me something," I said firmly, managing to tear my gaze from the girl on the table to the girl next to it.

She looked up at me, her dark green eyes startled at my intensity.

I took a deep breath. "I need you to watch after Petals when I'm gone. Celeste and Wanda, too. If…if something were to happen to me…"

"No," she said immediately. "Ben, don't even _think _like that. Nothing is going to happen. You're not going alone. You'll be all right."

"I know," I said quietly. "But just in case, Sunny. Ian didn't think anything would happen to him, and look where he is now. A prisoner in his own body."

We stared at each other until she finally broke her gaze and looked down at Petals on the table.

"Ben, of course I promise to take care of them if something—happens, but there's no point in making a promise like that because nothing _is _going to happen."

I didn't bother responding. She wasn't trying to reassure me; she was trying to reassure herself.

So many questions that I had for her came bubbling to the surface, but at that very instant, Jamie, Jared, and Kyle appeared in the doorway.

"Time to go," Kyle said gleefully, rubbing his hands together. He had been left behind on the previous "raid" that Wanda wasn't telling me about, and we knew that he was itching to go out, endanger his life, risk everything on what he viewed to be a fun adventure. That's just the way he was wired.

I got to my feet. "I need to talk to you when we get back," I murmured in a low aside to Sunny.

She nodded. "Take care of yourself," she whispered.

Then I left the room and she was gone, still clutching Petals' hand and talking to her in a soft voice.

I hoped it would do us some good.

We headed into one of the main caverns on our way to the exit. Almost everyone was milling around, waiting for us to come in so that they could wish us a safe journey. I gave Wanda a brief hug and said goodbye to all my close friends.

We were rushing toward the exit—this was a hurried mission, for Petals' life depended on it—when I heard a shrill voice.

"Uncle Ben!"

I turned to see Celeste dashing toward me. I knelt next to her and drew her into my arms, hugging her tightly and ignoring Jared's small huff of impatience.

"Uncle Ben, take me with you and Daddy!" she pleaded, drawing back.

I shook my head. "No, Celeste," I murmured. "We can't do that."

_"Please!" _she begged.

"Celeste, I need you to stay here so that you can take care of the people here," I told her. "You need to take care of Freedom and Isaiah and Miss Lily and Miss Trudy and Miss Sunny. And you especially need to stay so that you can protect Momma and the baby."

Celeste sniffled, her eyes filled with tears.

"It will only be for a couple of days," I whispered in her ear. "I'll be back so fast that you won't even know I was gone." I hugged her one last time and stood up, hurrying toward the exit after them.

"Daddy!" she yelled. "Daddy, say I can go with you!"

I quickly switched places with Ian without breaking stride.

"Angel, go with Mommy," he said over his shoulder. "I'll be back soon. I love you."

"No! Daddy, don't leave!" She sounded impatient and angry, still reaching for us, but there was an undercurrent of fear in her voice as Wanda picked her up and carried her away from us.

All we could do was wave helplessly at her one last time before we rounded the corner, heading for the exit, and she was gone.

The look in Celeste's eyes haunted me all the way to the Jeep. Ian and I had switched places again, and I was back in control. The others didn't bother to blindfold me; they knew that I already knew the way.

Once we reached the cave that the Jeep was in, we began to get it ready. Once it was all set to go, we sat down on a few rocks and talked strategy.

"So, where are we going?" Jamie asked, leaning back and stretching his long, gangly legs out in front of him.

I quickly explained where my house was. I hadn't known how to get from the caves back to my old house, but they seemed to, so I didn't push that one.

"What's our strategy?" Jared asked, ever-practical.

"I don't have much of one," I said apologetically. "I thought that we just bust in there, get what we need, and get out. If we find any Seekers and if they see anything, we can always just take them with us. You know how to take souls, out, don't you? And I don't think the humans would go back and betray us."

"You know, that's actually a good plan," Kyle said after an astonished pause.

"Thanks so much," I said dryly.

"Honestly, Kyle, you could THINK before you say things," Jamie snorted. "Any more stupid and we might have to bring you into school with me and Freedom, Isaiah, and Celeste."

"Celeste goes to school already?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she's apparently got some of Wanda's soul genes which makes her super-smart for a three-year-old," Kyle told me dismissively. I remembered Doc saying something similar.

Kyle turned back to Jamie. "Hey, I'm smart!" he tried to defend himself.

"Says the guy who left the Jeep doors open," Jared called, but he was smiling. "You could be a little less careless, bro. Come on, let's get in. We've got a long drive ahead of us."

"I didn't leave the doors open," Kyle snapped. "It was probably Jamie…" Their squabble faded out as they walked around the Jeep to the open doors.

Smiling and shaking my head, I followed them.

We drove mile after mile, through state after state, town after town. Finally, after three days of traveling, we were in the near vicinity of my old house.

I marveled at the civilization that surrounded us, remembering how I used to live here. Ian was slightly nervous as he watched my memories of reminiscence.

_**Don't worry, **_I assured him. _**I meant what I said. I have no intention of going back. Sure, there are perks out here, but there's so much I would miss. Celeste. Wanda. Sunny. All our friends.**_

Ian was slightly mollified as we carefully went through the neighborhood—it was night out, so we didn't have a fear of being discovered yet—and got to my house.

I looked around carefully to discover that it was oddly empty.

"This is weird," I murmured. "There should be people stationed out here…looking for me."

"Well, it's been a long time since you came to the caves," Jamie said quietly. "Maybe they gave up on you."

"That could be," I agreed, but I still felt a little cautious as I tried the doorknob. It was locked, naturally.

"Here, move," Kyle whispered. He stepped up and drew a small pin out of his pocket. After sticking it in the lock and jiggling it around, there was a soft click and the door swung open.

"Holy cow," Jared whistled.

"Where did you learn that?" I demanded.

He waved a hand at me, already halfway up the staircase. "I'll tell you later. Is your computer up here?"

I nodded mutely, and he continued up. The others followed him.

I was last, ironically, and I stepped into the room and looked around.

It was my old room, sure, and there were many memories there. But I was surprised to realize that nothing struck me. There wasn't as much familiarity as there should have been. This room had barely any meaning to me.

And that clinched it. The caves were my home now.

I rushed to the computer as fast as I could and frantically typed into it, overriding "password required" on screen after screen. Finally, I got to my E-mail and pulled the information up.

"This is what we need!" I cried, scanning it quickly.

"Well, then, for goodness' sake, hit the print button, I think I hear someone coming!" Jared hissed, cocking his head to one side like a dog.

I hit the print button several times, but nothing happened.

"What's the matter? Why isn't it working?" Jamie cried frantically.

"Do you want to try plugging the printer in?" a little voice chirped from somewhere below us.

We all whirled to see, sitting on the floor…

"Celeste!" Kyle and Jamie shouted at the same time.

She was holding one end of a plug to the printer and frowning at it as though it held the answer to all of life's mysteries. "I think this might help," she decided at last, completely ignoring her uncles.

"Celeste, what are you _doing _here?" I hissed at her, panic overwhelming me. If the Seekers came…if they found her…

She shrugged innocently at me. "I'm here to help you, of course." She blinked down at the plug, and then she leaned forward and pushed the plug into the outlet.

The printer whirred to life, and pages began to fly out of it with the information I needed printed on them.

"Celeste, I cannot believe you," Kyle began, shaking his head. I grinned smugly. _**Here we go. He'll give her a good talking-to about following us and doing things without permission and—**_

__"We have told you _countless _times not to go near outlets!" he continued in a loud voice. "You could get an electrical shock!"

We all stared at him in disbelief.

He caught our expressions and looked up. "What?"

"Really, Kyle?" Jared snapped. "That's all you're worried about right now?"

"How many outlets do you have in the caves, anyway?" I interjected.

"That's not important right now!" Jamie interrupted. "Just grab the pages and let's get out of here!"

Celeste clambered up to the printer and grabbed the pages. I grabbed her and turned to go.

Until I heard a gun being cocked.

We all froze, spinning around.

A woman dressed all in white was standing in the doorway, her eyes cold, staring at us.

But the obvious fact that she was a Seeker was not what drew our attention. What drew our attention was that she was staring at Celeste, right after her. She had been seen.

And the other thing that we noticed was that she had a gun in her hand that was aimed right at my niece's chest.

**CLIFFIE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *maniacal laugh of evilness* I'm so mean…review, please!**

** Celeste: What is this madness!**

** Kyle: THIS! IS! SPARTAAAAAAAAAA!**

** Me: Guys. Chill out.**

** Celeste: But what's going to HAPPEN to me?!**

** Me: I guess we'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out, won't we?**

** Ian: Really, Kyle? Really?**

** Review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**I know, I know, I'm mean, I need to stop with the cliffies **** I just can't seem to stop!**

** I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

A surge of horror that was absolutely insurmountable swept through us, so powerful and strong that I almost passed out.

_NO! CELESTE! CELESTE! NO! _Ian couldn't stop screaming.

I couldn't form words that were coherent enough to tell him to calm down. I couldn't calm MYSELF down. Our doubled fear linked together, making it worse and worse for both of us to bear.

In one quick movement, I handed Celeste off to Jamie and shielded both of them with my body. Jared and Kyle moved to flank me, all of us protecting Celeste. We didn't know how much good it would do. She could take every one of us down in a spray of bullets.

"Bending Leaves," she said calmly, and it took me a minute to realize that she was talking to me. I hadn't been addressed to by that name in so long that I'd nearly forgotten it.

I refused to acknowledge her in any way.

Jamie tried as hard as he could to hold onto a squirming Celeste, but she leaped out of his arms and landed on the floor. The Seeker instantly focused her gun on Celeste, and Ian and I held back the urge to scream again.

"Who is this?" she asked in a dead, flat monotone. And then she looked at Celeste, and then at me, and then at Celeste again. And I knew that she suddenly understood.

"You—he—she—," she spluttered. Then she drew herself together. "Who is the mother?" she hissed icily.

We were all frozen. None of us noticed Celeste carefully edging toward the door.

"I'm not telling you a thing," I said coldly, trying to freeze her with one glance the way Ian was always able to.

Then there were more footsteps from downstairs.

"Chelsea?" I heard someone yelling.

_No! More Seekers!_

"HERE!" she suddenly screamed, causing us all to jump. "I'VE FOUND THEM! THEY'RE UP HERE!"

The voices downstairs grew louder and more excited, and we heard thundering footsteps getting closer all the time.

_CELESTE! WHERE'S CELESTE?!_

I whirled to see her pulling herself up next to the doorway, reaching for something on the wall…

A dozen Seekers charged into the room, looking everything from concerned to excited, weapons drawn…

…just as Celeste hit the lightswitch.

The room was plunged into darkness. There were screams and shouts, thudding footsteps, and even a gunshot. I dropped instantly to the floor, hoping desperately that no one had been hit.

_**IAN, IAN, WHAT DO WE DO?! **_I panicked.

_CALM DOWN!_

I tried to do so, taking deep breaths while simultaneously being as quiet as I could.

_Find Celeste. She's the most important thing right now._

The last time I had seen her, she had been over by the doorway. That was where she had flipped the lightswitch. I began to crawl over, whispering her name very quietly. None of the Seekers heard it—they were too busy screaming and trying to figure out where to go.

Suddenly, my hand ran into someone else's, and I sucked in a breath.

"Uncle Ben?" I heard the person whisper very quietly, and I felt for the first time how small the hand was. I instantly scooped Celeste up and hugged her as tightly as I could.

I crawled back over to where I had been.

"Ben?" I heard Jared whispering. "Celeste?"

"The windows! Open the blinds! Get some light in here!" The Seekers were in chaos.

"Where are the windows?"

"We're here," I hissed back to Jared. "Where are Jamie and Kyle?"

"Jamie's right here. I don't know where Kyle is."

"I'm here!" another voice came hissing out of the darkness. "Under the coffee table."

"On the count of three, then, we're all going to crawl out through the doorway. Celeste, do you still have those papers?"

"Yeah, I got them."

"Okay. One…two…"

"Wait!" Jamie hissed. "The other Seeker! She saw Celeste! She knows!"

I groaned and tried not to curse.

"We'll have to take her with us," Jared murmured. "I have some chloroform. I didn't want to have to use it, but…"

"How do we know which one is that Seeker?" I whispered worriedly. "It's pitch black in here."

"We'll have to follow the sound of her voice," Kyle said grimly.

"The lights! Turn the lights back on!"

"I can't find them anywhere!"

"They're going to find the lightswitch!" I hissed, panicking again.

"I covered it with a piece of tape," Celeste whispered. "It'll take them a bit longer to find it that way."

We were all silent, impressed. Then we heard the first Seeker yelling something again, and Jared crawled silently over to her. After a moment, she had stopped yelling.

I began to crawl toward the door.

"Chelsea? Chelsea!" one of the other Seekers was shouting. "Where are you?"

Jamie and Kyle were right on my heels. Celeste clung to me as tightly as possible.

We maneuvered through feet, legs, trying not to step on anyone or touch anyone for fear of being discovered.

"Where are the humans?"

"Where is the fugitive soul?"

"Where is the Seeker?"

But they were a little too late, because we were out the door of my room.

We snuck down the stairs as quietly as possible. Jared had the still form of the Seeker draped over his shoulder as we tiptoed out of the house and into the cool night air.

We all dashed to the Jeep as fast as we could. The Seeker was thrown unceremoniously into the trunk, and Jamie and Kyle tumbled in with her. I fairly threw Celeste into the backseat before crawling frantically in after her. Jared got behind the wheel as quickly and quietly as possible before revving the engine and stomping down on the gas pedal, hard.

We did a fast U-turn and tore out down the driveway. Then we were roaring through street after street, leaving the screaming Seekers in the house behind in chaos. The lights in my room flickered on just as we turned the corner—they must have found the tape, peeled it off, and turned on the lights—but it was too late. We were already gone.

We didn't relax until we were on the highway, and even then, we were still wary. We were celebratory, too, though.

I slumped back in my seat with a sigh, holding Celeste close. Jamie and Kyle did the same, and even Jared's fingertips grew less white on the wheel.

Then I exploded.

"Celeste, what were you _thinking?" _I yelled. "You could have been killed! We told you to stay back in the caves!"

Her lower lip quivered as she looked up at me with her enormous blue eyes. "I—I'm sorry, Uncle Ben." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I just…I wanted to help. I knew that I _could _help. I did, didn't I?"

"Well, yes," I admitted grudgingly. "But that isn't the point! That was so close, Celeste, _too _close. This isn't like your games with Freedom. This is real. This is serious. This is dangerous! You can't just go running off whenever you want to. You have other people that you need to think about."

"Sorry," she whispered again.

I sighed and hugged her tightly. Sniffling, she buried her head in my chest.

"I forgive you, Celeste. That doesn't mean that you won't be punished," I added, giving her a stern look, "but I do understand."

Then I allowed myself a small smile. "And Celeste? Thank you for saving our butts back there."

She grinned, her entire face lighting up. "Did you hear them all yelling at each other?" she asked eagerly.

"I'll say! After running into you, they had no idea who they were dealing with!"

She cracked up, falling onto the seat. "They were all rolling around and stomping and yelling, and the lights were only an inch away from them!" she giggled.

"That was a neat trick with the tape," Jamie commented. "Where did you get tape, anyway?"

"I always keep a few pieces in my pocket," she explained. "Just in case."

"So, how did you even manage to follow us?" Jamie asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She rubbed at her nose with her wrist. "Well, after you left, I told Mommy I had to go to the bathroom, but I went to go see Uncle Ben's sister instead. And then she woke up, and she looked at me, and she asked where you were. So I told her that you were going to get some things to help her. And then she said something like, 'Please, you have to make sure that they're safe!'" And then she fell back asleep. And I knew that you were going to the cave, so I ran out after you guys. I know where the Jeep is, so I went all the way there, and you guys were still sitting there, talking about strategy, so I slipped into the back of the Jeep when you weren't watching. It was close, though—I left the door open by mistake, but I got lucky because you blamed it on Uncle Kyle."

"Ha!" Kyle exclaimed triumphantly. "See? I told you. I _didn't _leave that door open."

We rolled our eyes, and I gestured for Celeste to continue.

"I just rode in the back the entire time. When you got to the house, I followed you in there. I was trying to look at the printer, and I saw that it was unplugged, and…" She shrugged a little. "You know the rest."

I sighed. _**All right, Ian, I suck at giving out punishments, so I'm going to let you and Wanda handle this one.**_

_Sure thing, Ben. Hey, cheer up! We did it! Celeste is safe, no one is dead, and we got the information we needed to help your sister. As long as we make it back safely—and I'm pretty sure we will—we're going to be just fine._

Celeste looked out the window. "Are we home yet?"

"It's going to be a few more days, Celeste," I told her. "Although I wish I could speed it up a little, because Mommy sure is going to be worried about you," I added in a louder voice, and Jared went from 60 to 70, rolling his eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

**And I'm back again!**

** Thank you guys so much for your wonderful reviews! I'm really glad that you guys are enjoying my story so far. I'm getting farther! We're not done yet, but I'd say that we're getting there.**

** Enjoy!**

_**"CELESTE MELANIE O'SHEA!"**_

__We froze, only having one foot in the door. Wanda was storming toward us, and she was looking absolutely _furious._

"H-hi, Wanda," I stuttered weakly.

"DON'T YOU 'HI, WANDA' _**ME, **_BENDING LEAVES! WHAT THE _**CRAP **_WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"It wasn't me!" I insisted, holding my hands up in the air. "She followed us! We didn't bring her!"

"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO _**CALL ME **_AND TELL ME THAT MY _**FREAKING DAUGHTER WAS WITH YOU? **_I WAS _PANICKING _AND _PANICKING, _I HAD _**NO EARTHLY IDEA WHERE SHE WAS, AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO CALL ME?!"**_

__We froze, staring at each other.

"Oh, um, I had a cell phone," Kyle said weakly.

We looked at each other, and then took one look at Wanda's face.

"Uncle Ben," Celeste whispered. "I think we should probably run now."

"Do you think you can do it, Doc?" I asked anxiously.

Doc stroked his chin in thought, reviewing the list. "Yes, we can," he said at last, and I exhaled in relief. "But," he continued, "it will take a few specific ingredients to make enough of the serum to heal Bending Petals. They'll have to go out on another raid." He shrugged. "No wonder they couldn't heal her on the Flower planet. It appears that there are some essential ingredients here that can only be found on Earth."

"Wait a minute," I interjected. "I sent this information to the doctors that were taking care of Petals, so why didn't they put this serum together?"

Doc shrugged. "There could be a number of reasons," he said mildly. "One of them—we hope that this one isn't true—could be that the serum is temporary, and it wears off after time."

My eyes went wide with horror. "That can't be!"

Doc shook his head. "It's not likely," he assured me. "More probable is that they either didn't have time to form the entire serum, or they did make it and forgot an ingredient."

"Is she alive now?" I asked worriedly. "What's the matter with her, anyway?"

"We've got her on life support," Doc told me. "We've stolen enough technology to make sure that we can keep her alive until we have a chance to get her the serum. We don't know what the matter is with her, but we do know that the ailment is in her body, the soul part of it, since nothing is wrong with the human host. Also, if she had it on the Flower planet, too, then something is definitely wrong with her body in its true form."

I nodded slowly. That made sense.

"We'll have to go on another raid to get these ingredients," he murmured to himself.

I raised an eyebrow, something coming to my attention that hadn't been there before. "Is this raid going to be anything like the last one?" I asked suspiciously.

He started and looked up at me, obviously not knowing that I had noticed anything amiss.

"What?" he stuttered.

I stared him down. "I know that something is going on that you're not telling me, Doc. I want to know what it is, but if you'll deny me that, at least tell me this. Is this one going to be like the last one that you're not telling me about?"

"No," Doc muttered at last.

Satisfied, I touched Petals' hand one more time before getting to my feet and leaving the room.

I walked briskly down the tunnel, thinking about Petals. But the conversation had brought something new up, too, something I hadn't thought about since my sister came to the caves.

_That's right, _Ian realized. _We never got Wanda to tell us about that raid._

_**Celeste is our last hope, dude. She's not going to spill. Why not?**_

___I have no idea. Wanda's mind is unfathomable to me._

_**Okay, okay. Try to use her logic, though. What reason would she have for keeping this from us?**_

___Well…_Ian pondered this. _If telling us meant putting someone else in danger, she probably wouldn't do it. Unless it was putting HERSELF in danger, in which case she probably wouldn't care._

_**If it were a potentially dangerous situation for someone, though, then wouldn't she have kept it from everyone? Why is she keeping it from just us?**_

___She didn't tell Celeste, either. Celeste found out on her own._

_**Okay, fine. Just think about my point.**_

___All right, you have a point, _he conceded.

_**I know. Okay, think. What other reason could she have for keeping something this big a secret?**_

___Well…she always used to claim that I would overreact whenever SHE'S in danger. So maybe the reason is…_

_**…that she's in danger, **_I realized at the same time he did.

We both frowned, thinking about this, as I headed off to one of the western fields.

_That settles it. If Wanda's in danger, we have to know what's going on. We need to get Celeste and get her to tell us._

_**Where is she, though?**_

___I don't know. Start looking._

_**Gee, thanks, **_I thought dryly, but I did so anyway. I checked every spot I could think of Celeste being in, but she wasn't anywhere.

_I'm sure she's around, _Ian thought finally, as weary as I was. _We'll just have to let HER find US._

_**That's the way it usually works with your daughter, **_I told him wryly.

It was true, though. We were on our way to the dining room when we passed Celeste in the hall.

I instinctively reached out and caught her elbow. "Talk to me, Celeste, because Wanda won't," I begged her.

She frowned and drew aside, taking my hand and leading me down one of the tunnels.

"What do you mean, Uncle Ben?" she asked me, frowning. "Talk about what?"

"Mommy and the others went on that raid, remember?" I told her. "We both thought that something was suspicious, and you spied on them and overheard them talking, and…"

I let my voice trail off. I didn't need to say anything else. Celeste's face had grown comprehending and pale halfway through.

"Oh," she squeaked. "That. I didn't hear anything—,"

"You know I'm not going to believe that, right?"

"Okay, fine!" she hissed, looking around wildly. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a side tunnel. "In here."

We faced each other, each of us pressed up against one side of the tunnel.

"All right." She spoke quietly. "I listened to Mommy talking to the others. I didn't hear all of it, but apparently there was another group of humans that they were supposed to go out and meet. They didn't tell you because they didn't trust you entirely at the time. Apparently, they got really upset when they saw Wanda, and they drew a gun on her—,"

"WHAT?!" Ian shouted through my mouth, the sound echoing off the tunnel walls.

She winced. "Uncle Ben, tell Daddy to be quiet!" she hissed at me.

"He can hear you, but I'll pass along the message," I grumped.

_**Ian, shut up!**_

___How DOES she do that?_

"Grandpa Jeb convinced them to calm down, but they were still really angry. They said something like, 'Get rid of the worm or we'll do it for you.'" Ian tried to shout again, but I firmly hushed him. "Uncle Kyle got Mommy out of there as fast as he could, and they came back. I don't know why she didn't tell you after that—they were just talking about that when Mommy saw me and told me to go to my room. I told her that I didn't hear what she said, though, so she doesn't know that I knew."

I was stunned by the amount of information that I had just received, and I was vaguely able to thank Celeste, tell her to run along to get some food, and assure her that I would be along in a minute. I waited until she was out of sight before storming off down the corridor.

_Where is she? Where's Wanda? _Ian was angry and frightened at the same time.

_**IAN! CALM! DOWN! **_I yelled at him before calming down myself. _**Listen! Wanda's fine for the time being, do you hear me? They're not about to come barging in here with spears and guns. They don't even know where we live. Just concentrate on dealing with this. If you go to Wanda and talk to her right now, then you're going to overreact.**_

__Ian completely disregarded the second half of what I had said. _NO. No way. I need to talk to her NOW._

_**Ian, don't!**_

__But he surged forward before I could stop him, squeezing past me, taking control. I was thrust to the recesses of our mind, trapped there. I fought him as hard as I could, trying to get back in control, but he brushed my efforts off and broke into a run down the corridor.

Trapped in the corners of his mind, I was only able to watch helplessly. I felt cheated and horrible. This was the first time Ian had purposely taken over without my assent, and I was frightened at how easily he was able to do it. I was angry and hurt, too, but Ian was too focused on Wanda to care about my feelings right now.

He hurried down the tunnel toward her room. When he got there, he thrust the door aside. It hit the wall with a bang.

Wanda looked up from where she had been brushing her hair out. She smiled at us and got to her feet.

"Ben!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you were back. How did it go? Did you get the…"

Her voice trailed off as she took in Ian's furious expression, realizing for the first time that I wasn't the one in control.

"Oh," she said meekly. "Hello, Ian. What's the matter?"

But something in her expression told us that she knew quite well what the matter was.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked her, his tone low and angry.

"Ian, I—,"

"I mean, you didn't trust us at first. That, I can understand. But afterward? When you knew that Ben was trustworthy? When you knew I was in here?" His voice was rising more and more.

"Technically, I knew that you were in there before the raid," she said weakly, looking up at me.

"But after that?" He was flat-out yelling now. "Wanda, I _care_ about you! I'm trying to protect you, but you're not making that very easy."

He slumped onto the bed, suddenly exhausted.

"It hasn't been easy," he repeated in a tired tone, and we all heard the double meaning behind those words.

"Ian, Ian, I'm sorry," she murmured, sidling up closer to me. Again, there was a double meaning. She was apologizing for all of it.

_**Stop hurting her! **_I screamed at him. _**She hasn't done anything wrong! You're putting her in pain! Selfish, insensitive human!**_

__He flinched back, feeling wounded by my words. I was immediately sorry, but at the same time, I didn't regret saying it.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered again, blinking back tears as best as she could. "I know how you feel, Ian—,"

"How?" he yelled suddenly, angry again. "How on earth could you know how it feels, Wanda? You've never gone through this! You don't know how _hard _it is to be dragged away from your friends, your family, everything that you love. You don't know what it's like to have someone else shoved into your head and take over your body, your very existence. You don't know what it's like to have to fight so hard to keep secrets from that person."

She was quiet for a long time.

"No, I don't," she agreed in an even tone after she sensed that Ian had calmed slightly. "But Melanie does."

Ian and I both stopped in our tracks, not expecting her to take this train of logic.

"I've lived in her head, Ian. Everything that you just said, she went through. And I went through it with her. It was just as painful for both of us as it is for you. So yes, I do know how you feel."

She slipped at the end, and we heard the pain, unmeasured, in her voice. Then we realized what Ian had said. We realized how it would hurt her, how it would make her feel guilty. She was that person that he had mentioned that caused all this pain. She was the enemy, the monster that had been shoved in and taken over what wasn't rightfully hers. That's how she would view herself after I said something like that.

"Wanda, no," Ian whispered immediately. "That's not what I meant. You know that isn't what I meant. You know I love you so much. You're not a monster. Never. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Then they were both crying and hugging each other. And in those tears, all the pain and bitterness that they'd both been holding in began to spill out. Their horrible, awful hurt at losing one another for so long came rushing out. Their bitterness toward the Seekers, toward me, toward everyone who had dared to try to make that separation. They cried together for a long, long time.

When the tears finally stopped, they were both lying down next to each other on the mattress, wordless and exhausted. Expelling all of this pain had been draining for both of them.

"Next time…" Ian murmured, trying hard to voice his words. "Next time, you have to tell us, and we're going with you."

Tension replaced the bitterness in the air, and we were all silent, waiting.

"All right," she finally whispered, and the atmosphere relaxed.

The hurt, the mistrust, the pressure, the pain…it all melted away, and love abruptly surged forward to take its place. And in that instant, all that was present was their happiness that they could at least be together now.

None of us knew when they fell asleep, but when we woke up again, I was back in control. I flexed the fingers that alternately belonged to us both now, shaking my head.

I looked down and saw Wanda sleeping peacefully, a small smile on her face. I thought about all the pain and joy, both together, that had come out last night.

Ian felt lighter somehow, more buoyant. He felt as though he could really breathe, expand, exist, now that he had gotten all of that off of his chest.

_Ben, I'm sorry, _he whispered at last. _I didn't mean to push you aside like that. I just—_

_**I understand, **_I interrupted. _**You've been holding that in for a long time, and when an opportunity came to let it out, you had to take that, even if it meant knocking a few things over that were in your way. Just as long as you promise not to do that again.**_

___Promise, _he said hesitantly. _Unless…Ben, something might come up when I HAVE to. And if that comes…_

_**I guess it depends on the situation. If it's mutually acknowledged to be important, then of course.**_

___Right._

We both watched the girl we both loved sleeping, knowing that everyone would feel better once she was awake.

But we knew that what we had said last night was true. We would go with her next time.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey, guys!**

** Okay, I'm really appreciating all the reviews I'm getting, and I really don't want to sound ungrateful. But the amount has been slowing down…like, a lot. I only got 6 on the last chapter… **** I really would appreciate it if you guys reviewed some more. Not because I'm trying to force out compliments or whatever, but I really honestly want to know what you think of this story.**

** My goal is 10 reviews per chapter. What do you guys think?**

** Anyway, this chapter is probably one of my favorites, next to the one in which Ben meets Celeste. Pay super-good attention, okay? I really think you guys are going to love this one.**

** Enjoy! Read and REVIEW!**

Many things happened.

Celeste, Wanda, Ian, and I were all relatively happy. The atmosphere when we were around one another seemed more loose and relaxed because we had gotten some necessary things off of our chests.

However, there was one solid worry that was constantly hovering in the back of my mind, like a barbell resting solidly straight across my temples. It was giving me a massive headache, and the constant worry gnawed at me and made my inward aching turn into a steady, dull throb.

_**Petals…**_

__Ian and I were constantly in the hospital, checking on her. Doc was still examining the formulas that we had brought. There were some complications.

"What complications?" I had demanded when he first told me.

"Calm down, Ben," he insisted. "I'll get it done as soon as I can. But some of these ingredients we don't have and need to go and get. On top of that, some are extremely rare and _hard _to get. Some I've never even heard of, and I'm going to have to do some research. And we have to figure out some solid portions for all of these, or all this work will have been for nothing."

"But what about Bending Petals?" I demanded.

"We have the technology to keep her steady," Doc assured me. "At least until we can get a full serum prepared."

Now we visited almost every day, not entirely trusting Doc's word and making sure that Petals truly was steady, not about to die on us.

In the meantime, we were all getting prepared for a big raid. This one would be unlike any of the others that we had recently been on, because we needed so many unusual ingredients for Bending Petals' serum.

For some odd reason, though, even though they had never officially met her, most of the people in the caves loved my sister—absolutely adored her—without even knowing her yet. I understood. Petals was sweet and kind and honest, and she always had that affect on people.

But the biggest thing that happened had to do with Wanda.

I saw her enter the cave each day, and I watched as her appearance grew more and more haggard, tired, and frazzled. Her stomach was getting bigger and bigger, too, which we both noticed, and she was often seen rubbing it with one hand and looking concerned.

I began to take Celeste onto my plate more and more, not letting her play with Wanda very often and not for very long when she did. I didn't want to tire Wanda out.

One such day, Celeste and I were walking together down the halls when she abruptly said,

"How's Daddy doing in there?"

I was startled by the question, and automatically, I stretched out in my mind toward Ian. He was there, naturally, lurking in the back.

"He's doing all right," I answered her at Ian's request, a little surprised.

"I just haven't heard from him lately, that's all," Celeste said, her tone slightly morose. "I just miss him a little."

"Do you want to talk to him now?" I offered, feeling horrible all over again. It was as though I could feel that attachment, firmly wrapped around our rib and tethering me to this body, trapping me where I was not wanted.

Ian rebuked me for this train of thought. _Don't even start with that. You know that none of this is your fault._

"No, thank you," Celeste answered my question, surprising me again. I'd thought she would want to talk to Ian.

She looked up and saw my expression, and her little face smoothed out into one of those adorable smiles that I loved. "I just want to make sure that he's okay, that's all," she explained. "I'll talk to him later, but I'm spending time with _you _right now."

And she reached up and slipped her hand into mine.

It felt so right there, so natural, in mine. _Mine, _not Ian's or ours. Just mine. Even he couldn't explain that strange feeling. It wasn't the fatherly sort that he always had around Celeste—it was something a little different this time that neither of us could quite place.

I was trying to wrap my mind around this, trying to put a name to it, as we went into the lunch room and sat down together.

Suddenly, there was running footsteps, and Sunny burst into the tunnel at top speed, looking windswept.

"WANDA'S HAVING HER BABY!" she shrieked louder than I had ever heard her say anything.

In half an instant, the room was dead quiet.

Sunny locked eyes with me. "Ben, come on!" she cried urgently. "She needs you guys!"

_**Wanda needs me.**_

__That was all I heard before a fierce rush of panic overcame me. I leapt to my feet and dashed out the door after Sunny. What seemed like half the lunchroom followed us. Melanie, Jamie, and Jared were directly behind us, looking panicked and worried. Celeste was still clinging to my hand, and Freedom was holding onto her other one, appearing out of nowhere.

We followed Sunny down tunnel after tunnel until we got to the hospital wing.

"Nice and easy, Wanda, that's it," we heard Doc saying in a soothing tone. "You're doing fine. Remember, deep breathing."

"Yeah," I heard her say, sounding a bit breathless. "All right. Deep breathing."

"That's it, just relax. You've done this once before, remember?"

"Oh, I remember, all right," she said darkly, and he laughed.

Only a few of us went in while the others waited anxiously outside the door. I went, of course. Melanie and Jared came, too. We made Celeste, Freedom, and Jamie stay outside, however.

"You don't need to see this," Melanie interrupted sternly when Jamie began to protest.

We entered the room to see Wanda lying on the cot. Her curls were plastered to her forehead with sweat, and she was panting a little, but she didn't seem to be doing too badly yet.

"Hey," she huffed, smiling weakly at us.

"Wanda, are you doing all right?" Melanie asked softly, touching her arm.

"Yeah," Wanda said calmly. "Doing fine."

Her eyes settled on me.

"Ian," I heard her barely breathe.

I knew in an instant what had to be done.

_Ben, it's fine, really, it's—_

_**No, it's not, **_I interrupted, smoothly switching places with him in a fluid instant. _**It's my fault that you missed the birth of your first child. You're not going to miss this one.**_

___It is NOT your fault, _Ian said again, but he didn't have a sufficient argument. Besides, he agreed with me.

_**I'll just be…just be back here, then, **_I said, feeling queasy all of a sudden.

Ian laughed aloud. _You don't have to watch, Ben._

_**Thank goodness.**_

___**Ian POV**_

I blinked, settling into the smooth pattern of transition that I had gotten somewhat accustomed to.

Before I knew it, I was back in control of myself, feeling gloriously free. I smiled down at Wanda and smoothed her hair away from her face.

It lit up. "Ian?" she whispered, hope in her voice.

"Hey, babe," I said softly, sitting down next to her. "Got some action going on today, huh?"

"You—could—say—that," she agreed between breaths. A tiny groan slipped through her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut. I grabbed one of her hands in both of mine.

"Didn't you take a No Pain yet?" I asked her, my insides beginning to grow cold with fear.

She shook her head.

I was astonished, turning to Doc for an explanation. Ben was equally nonplussed.

"We've never gone through a birth like this, and we don't know what's going to happen," he explained in a low voice. "She didn't want to take any advanced technology because she wants to make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"What?" I was confused. That made no sense.

"If something is happening that shouldn't be," Wanda huffed through clenched teeth, "then the pain will alert me to that fact. If I don't have any pain, then I won't know whether or not everything is going well, and if it's not, I won't be able to fix it."

I nodded slowly. It made a bit more sense, but I still didn't like it.

"Wanda, are you sure?" I asked her hesitantly.

She nodded and grinned. "I've done this before," she told me.

"Not like this," I murmured, unnaturally solemn.

"No, not like this," she agreed, suddenly solemn herself.

We sat by her bed for hours, and each time she was in pain, it hurt me a bit more. After awhile, she began to moan, and each one pierced my heart like someone had stabbed me.

"Easy, Wanda," Doc told her in a soothing voice several hours later. He was scanning her and trying to figure out how far along the baby was in the birthing process. "I know that it hurts now, but it's going to go away very soon. It appears that your nerve ending is about to detach, and that's half the battle. Then he just has to come out."

"Oh, joy," she hissed through gritted teeth. Melanie stroked her hair worriedly.

"You're doing fine, baby," I whispered to her. "I'm right here. Just think…we're about to meet our second child. We're forming our family. I'm right here this time, Wanda. Focus on that…think about our lives, the baby…Celeste is going to be so happy to be a big sister…"

My soft, soothing words appeared to be helping; she had a small smile on her face and had relaxed a tiny bit.

"Get ready!" Doc shouted suddenly. "Here it goes!"

I watched onscreen, seeing the little blurry shape that was connected to her. Suddenly, Wanda tensed up and gave a short, piercing scream at the same time I saw the blurry shape disconnect from the rest of her.

She slumped back on the pillows, gasping. Abruptly, there was a flash of silver light that made us all shield our eyes.

When I was able to look again, I saw a very surprised Melanie, who had been sitting at the foot of the bed, holding a wailing child in her arms.

"I—just—it just popped out," she stammered, seeing my stare. "I don't know how the heck that happened. It just—,"

"I don't need the details, thanks," I interrupted, more for the sake of Ben's stomach than mine. I reached carefully out, and she handed me the child.

I looked down to see Wanda smiling peacefully with her eyes closed.

"It's all over now, Wanda!" I exclaimed. "You did it!"

She mumbled something I couldn't quite hear as Doc took the baby out of my arms and began to clean it. It gradually stopped crying.

"Don't you need to, like…cut some tube or something?" I asked tentatively.

Melanie howled with laughter as Doc tried to keep a straight face. "Um, no. Normally, yes, but it appears that Wanda's nerve ending was acting as the umbilical cord in this…particular…instance. And it already detached."

Wanda mumbled again, and I leaned forward as Doc placed the now-quiet baby back in my arms. "What, Wanda?" I asked her.

"Boy or girl?" she sighed.

I looked down to see, for the first time, my…

"Boy," I whispered hoarsely.

My son.

A fierce rush of joy swept through me, stronger and more monumental than I had realized. Before now, my world had been divided two different ways—Wanda and Celeste. Now, though, there was a third section, a third magnetism that was drawing me straight to this tiny little newborn boy in my arms.

He blinked sleepily, and to my surprise, his eyes opened.

"That's incredible!" Doc exclaimed softly. "He's a newborn; he shouldn't be able to open his eyes already!"

But he had. I stared at him in astonishment as thick hair began to grow out of his head. I became afraid that it was going to keep growing, giving him some sort of hippie-dreadlock look three minutes after he was born, but it stopped at about the same length that mine was. He didn't have mine and Celeste's smooth, straight, black hair, though. He had tousled golden curls that were sprawled all over his head. He blinked his sleepy gray eyes up at me, and they were the exact same shade as Wanda's. I even saw the same faint silver shimmer behind them.

"That's amazing," Doc murmured behind me, looking down at the little baby just as I was. His expression was completely awed and baffled. "His eyes have opened…he has hair already…"

"What about his eyes?" I asked in a low voice. "He isn't really a soul, only half, so why are his eyes like that?"

Wanda's filled with tears. "You don't like them?" she asked in a soft voice.

I was completely horrified. "Yes! I mean, no! I mean, yes, Wanda, I do like them. I _love _them. That's not what I meant. I was just curious."

Seemingly reassured, she sank back a little on her pillow.

"Well, he does have one or two of Wanda's nerve endings in him," Doc pointed out. "That was bound to do something."

I smiled down at him, stroking his hair away from his face. He looked up at me and abruptly broke into an enormous grin. I blinked in surprise as tiny, perfect, straight white teeth flashed at me.

"He's got teeth already?" Melanie exclaimed. "That's impossible!"

"Apparently not," Jared pointed out, trying hard to conceal a smirk.

I wasn't listening, too completely captivated by that wonderful smile to say anything to anyone else. I stared down at the little baby, my baby, my son, who grinned back up at me as if to say, _I know exactly who you are._

"Can I hold him?" Wanda breathed.

"Are you all right?" I asked her, which really meant, _Can you handle holding this baby without dropping him and therefore shattering my existence into tiny little pieces?_

"Yes, Ian, I'm fine," she said impatiently.

Grinning, I handed her our child somewhat reluctantly. She cradled him close, smoothing his hair and kissing his face.

"Oh, he's adorable," she sighed.

"He's wonderful," I agreed. "He's _perfect."_

We were all silent for awhile.

"Mommy told me he was going to be bald," a tiny voice interrupted the quiet.

We all started and looked down to see Celeste peering over the edge of the cot.

"Celeste!" Wanda exclaimed, horrified. "Did you—how much did you—how much did you see?"

"I heard you scream and came to see if you were dying," she explained. "I'm glad that you weren't."

"Me, too," I laughed. Suddenly, though, something came to my attention. "Doc, you have to check them over and make sure they're all right!"

Wanda rolled her eyes at me, but she allowed Doc to take the baby from our arms and carry him to the back of the room. When he came back, he was smiling.

"He's perfectly healthy," Doc announced. The baby was now wrapped in a blanket. "Although he's bigger than when he came out."

We all stared at Doc, nonplussed. "Excuse me?" Melanie choked out after a moment.

"The first thing I did was weigh and measure him," Doc told us. "Just after I cleaned him. And he is heavier and taller than he was after he came out."

"Is he all right?" I asked again, somewhat anxiously.

"Yes, he's healthy," Doc repeated. "He's just showing normal signs of baby growth…but accelerated."

I was surprised at this, but I pushed my questions to the back of my mind. "Wanda? Is she all right?"

"Perfectly fine," Doc told me.

"What about the nerve ending?" I asked nervously. "Will that kill her?"

"I don't think that one will," Wanda spoke up. "From what I know, you have to divide them all if you're going to die."

I was relieved again and finally allowed myself to be happy. Celeste clambered up into my arms, and I sat on the edge of Wanda's cot. She snuggled up next to us, holding the baby in her arms. We all stared down at him, feeling complete and happy. It was as though we had holes in us the entire time, and this baby had just come along and filled them…although we hadn't known they were there until they weren't anymore.

"Is that my brother?" Celeste's voice broke through my reverie, and I blinked down at her inquisitive expression.

"Yes, it is," I told her softly.

She crept over to Wanda's lap and peered down at the bundle on it. "Hi, there," she said softly. "I'm your sister. I'm Celeste. I'm happy I finally got to meet you…I've been waiting a long, _long _time."

Now everyone was tearing up. Great.

"What's your name?" she asked, but she looked at us when she said it.

We stared at each other.

"Wes," Wanda said finally, smiling at me.

"Wes Walter O'Shea," I finished.

I heard a sound that might have been a muffled sob from Lily, but when we looked over, her smile was so big I thought it might fall off her face.

We switched—Wanda gave me Wes and cuddled Celeste on her lap. Again, I stared down at his tiny, perfect face, feeling happy and at home.

My baby. My son.

My Wes.


	25. Chapter 25

**Here we are, back again!**

** I am so thrilled right now. I asked for more reviews, and you guys rose to the occasion MAGNIFICENTLY! I got 11 reviews on my chapter in just two days.**

** So here's the deal. I'm going to aim for 10 reviews per chapter. After a chapter has gotten 10 reviews, I'll update. Of course, if it goes long enough without me getting 10, then I'll update anyway. I'm not going to force you to review. But since you guys are so awesome, I decided some sort of early-update-system was in order.**

** Here's the next chapter!**

"I'm really glad that we've got all this technology," I said conversationally to Sunny. She was holding Wes on her lap and making faces at him.

"Why's that?" she asked back in that same tone, grinning so wildly at Wes that his face split into a grin, too.

"Doc scanned Wes after he was born and told us a few interesting facts…" Ian and I were thrown into memories…

Wes was adorable. Wanda, Celeste, and I took enormous pride and joy in making him laugh, enjoying his giggle, his smile, and his dimples. Celeste, especially, took her role as a big sister very seriously, always playing with him and trying to make him grin at her.

He was growing very fast for a baby, however. Even I, who had no experience with human children whatsoever, knew that this wasn't natural. He was already the size of a one-year-old, and he was only a one-month-old.

We loved him anyway, though. Of course we did.

He, like Celeste, was unusually intelligent for his age…even if he had been a one-year-old, he would have been oddly smart.

He was already crawling and easily supporting his own torso. He and Celeste were constantly hand-in-hand and on the go, and it was becoming harder than ever to keep track of them.

There was only one thing that surprised everyone. Wes didn't talk.

Doc had taken his accelerated growth into order, and he had determined that Wes should be ABLE to speak at this point. He just…didn't. Not to me, not to Ian, not to Wanda, not to Kyle, not to anyone.

And it was astonishing that he didn't talk to Kyle because, to everyone's surprise, he had completely attached himself to Kyle and Jodi. He was constantly following the two of them around, touching fists with Kyle and crawling into Jodi's lap whenever he got a chance. Kyle pretended to be gruff, but we could tell that he was thrilled.

"About time I was a favorite uncle by SOMEONE," was what he always said with a tiny smile on his face.

I smiled whenever he said this, and Ian was happy, too. We thrived together now, closer than we had ever been, brought together even closer by baby Wes' birth. Ian was so grateful to me, so happy that he'd been able to be present for his second child's birth, that he was happier than he had ever been since my insertion.

Celeste was doing the best she could to be the best big sister ever. I knew that most earth siblings had something of a rivalry, sometimes jealous of each other, always vying for the spotlight and having arguments. Celeste and Wes, however, were nothing like that. Celeste seemed to fall in love with Wes from the instant she saw him. She was constantly playing with him, talking to him, feeding him. She did everything but change him, and she would have done even that if Wanda had claimed that she wasn't old enough to handle something like that. Celeste carried him, gave him piggy-back rides, hugged him, talked to him, told him stories…did everything that a good big sister would do.

The two were hand-in-hand, best friends, inseparable. I smiled whenever I saw them playing together. Freedom loved Wes, too, and was all too eager to include him in his and Celeste's games.

I kept an eye on Wanda, trying to make sure that she was all right, looking for any signs that she was in pain or that something was wrong. She seemed fine, though, experiencing every normal symptom of after-pregnancy. She quickly lost her pregnancy weight, becoming healthy again and radiating a happy atmosphere as she played with her two children.

I was happy that everyone else was happy, but I was beginning to notice that Ian's…sleep schedule, so to say—it was different, because he didn't actually sleep, only drifted in and out in a sleep-like state—was different from mine.

And I was using the times when he was lucid and dreaming in the back of my mind to go and do something. I was keeping a secret from Ian, but it was nothing as severe as the last time I had done so.

Now was one of those times.

Smiling to myself, I looked back and forth before carefully stepping out of the cave. I tested Ian, even prodding him a little with my mind, but he just twitched a little and continued to dream.

I grinned as I crept carefully down the hall. Even mentally and physically trapped, Ian still slept more deeply than anyone I knew…except maybe Wes. Wanda and Celeste slept lightly, but when Wes was asleep, not even a tornado ripping through the caves would wake him up. Ian was the only one that could do it; I had to switch places with him while he completed the twenty-minute-long process. On a good day, Wes occasionally allowed Kyle to do it, but no one else, not even Wanda or Celeste.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a soft voice calling me.

"Ben…Be-en…"

I grinned and hurried forward. When I rounded the corner, I saw Sunny, holding one of the blue lanterns and waiting for me.

I sat down next to her, both of us dangling our legs over the gorge. We were silent for awhile, neither of us needing to say a word.

Sometimes we talked. Sometimes we didn't. I always made sure that we were near one of the shallower gorges. If either of us fell in, it wouldn't kill us, it would barely injure us, and it would be easy for us to get back out again. It had to be back here, though; it was the only place in the caves that everyone didn't go to, the only place where we could have private conversations.

"So, Wes," Sunny said after awhile, smiling.

"Wes Walter," I agreed, smiling as well.

"You named him after the previous Wes and Walter…" she said slowly. "The other two humans that were here and died, right?"

"Wanda's idea," I said softly. "Wanda named him."

"You helped," she corrected, her voice equally soft.

"I didn't," I insisted. "Ian did."

She frowned. "Wait, you weren't there?"

"No," I said, a little surprised. "I wouldn't deny Ian that."

"That's true," she murmured. I knew that she understood; she was a soul.

I told her that.

"Yes, I guess I am," she said, but there was a small note of reluctance in her voice.

"I knew that you would understand; you're a soul," I repeated. "But…I don't know, there's something about you that doesn't fit up with the other things I know about souls. You're more human-like than any other soul I've met."

"I suppose so." Her tone was cool and disinterested now.

"Why is that?"

She was silent.

"You wish you were human?" I guessed gently, thinking I knew what was wrong with her.

"I…no," she said defiantly, and then sighed, so I knew I had hit the nail on the head, so to say.

"Why?" I prodded, my voice hushed.

She sighed again and closed her eyes, but not before I saw a small tear glistening there.

"If I were human, Kyle would have loved me," she burst out, the tear running down her face.

I was silent, completely shocked. I hadn't expected that one to come out.

"I thought…well, I thought that you got over Kyle after you were removed from Jodi's body," I said hesitantly.

She sniffed and rubbed a hand across her eyes. "Please," she snapped, her voice trembling. "You don't ever get over something like that. For my entire existence here, even when I was in the caves, I thought I loved Kyle. I thought that it was the one thing that I was sure about. My entire existence was a blur of confusion, but I knew that I loved Kyle. And I thought that maybe, just maybe, he loved me, too." She glared at me through glimmering green eyes. "When I got here, I accepted that I had to go. I thought it would get me out of this horrible confusion, terror, and pain. I didn't want to go at first, but I thought it was all right.

"And then I wake up back in the caves again, and they're telling me that I was allowed to stay. I was so happy at first, but then? Then I find out that I'm only staying to get back the lover of the guy _I _love. That hurt. That hurt more than I let on.

"But time passed, and I just couldn't find her. We thought she was lost forever. And you know what happened? Kyle led me on. He made me think that he actually did love me, that he wasn't still using me. Then Jodi popped up, and he dropped me. He dropped me like a hot potato. He had me out of her body within a week, not caring about what _I _thought. The only reason I'm still here is because the girl in that human body wouldn't wake up."

She was really crying now, the tears falling down her face in a torrent as quick and painful as her words.

"He led me on," she repeated, trying hard to stifle her tears.

We were silent after that, and I had the feeling that she had held this in for a long time. She wanted to be human because she thought it would lessen the sting of Kyle's rejection. She acted human in hopes that it would make her more human. She also did unintentionally, because she was so full of tight bitterness. People acted like that when they were bitter, and souls didn't act like it because they rarely had a reason to be bitter.

She bit her lip, turning her face away, hating to show weakness in front of me.

But everyone was weak sometimes. Even souls. Even humans.

I scooted next to her and very awkwardly put my arm around her. I had no idea how to do this, to comfort another person.

For half a second, she was frozen and stiff, and I was filled with an awkward dread that I had done something horribly wrong.

Then, abruptly, she curled into my side, hunched up in a little ball. Her shoulders shook with sobs as she leaned on me for support. I curled my arm tighter around her, trying to make her feel better.

I knew that she really needed a shoulder to cry on, and I felt the tears running down her face. I knew that she had been suppressing this for a long time.

But it all felt slightly off. My arm didn't quite go properly around her; she didn't quite fit into my side.

_That's because it's my arm, _Ian spoke up quietly from the back of my mind. _And my side. I've had other girls, other girlfriends, and I've held other girls in these caves. Wanda is the only one that fits. Properly, anyway._

I started. _**Ian? I didn't know you were there! How long have you known?**_

___Quite awhile. I don't really sleep in your head. The body is the only thing that does._

_**Oh…**_I felt sheepish and embarrassed. _**I didn't mean to…I mean…you didn't…I just…**_

___You don't have to explain. I've been in Sunny's position before. I fell in love with Wanda, remember?_

_**Oh, **_I moaned, still embarrassed. _**I'm sorry, Ian. I don't mean to put you in pain by this.**_

___Don't you see? _Ian was somber, ignoring my apologies. _This proves it, Ben. I know that we've said this before, but we have got to find a way to separate our bodies. You don't belong here, in pain. I can't stay trapped here while you love another girl. I know that it isn't your fault, but she's Sunny, not Wanda, and I can't bear this. It doesn't feel right. We've got to find some way to free ourselves, both of us._

_**I know. I know. But what can we—**_

__"Ben?" I heard a soft, tentative voice calling. "Ben?"

Sunny sniffled, but before she had time to compose herself, Wanda had rounded the corner with a lantern.

The light was blinding, and it fell on the two of us, my arm around Sunny. I saw Wanda staring, and then I saw pain ripple across her face, so real and immediate that it made my knees weak even though I wasn't standing up.

"Wanda, I—," I choked out.

Sunny pushed herself to her feet, wiping inconspicuously at her face and erasing the tears. She plastered a relatively happy expression on her face and said, "Hi, Wanda. Ben and I were just talking…er…sorry about that."

"No reason to apologize," Wanda said gently with a smile, though it seemed rather forced. If I hadn't seen the agony in her eyes, I wouldn't have known that something was bothering her. She was getting better at lying.

"What do you need?" I asked, moving to her side. "Anything at all." I would get her anything to make up for what had happened. Anything at all.

"I just…" She bit her lip. "Ian wanted me to let him know when we were going…er…out again." I understood the implication behind her words, and so did Ian.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Well…we are today."


	26. Chapter 26

**Here we are with chapter twenty-six!**

** Dang, never thought I'd say THAT.**

** A few people have brought it to my attention that newborns CAN open their eyes, back in chapter twenty-four. That was my bad; I didn't think it was possible.**

** Sorry.**

** Anyway, here we go! This is a good 'un, so pay lots of careful attention and REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

** Please.**

"Are you sure that bringing Celeste along was a good idea?" I asked Wanda nervously.

Wanda sighed. "Heidi is staying in the car with her. She won't be in any danger. I figure that it's better to bring her ourselves and make sure that she stays out of trouble than have her stow away again and be in danger."

"All right, then," I said doubtfully. We both cast a look to the back of the jeep where Celeste was curled up on a blanket, asleep. Kyle and Jamie were positioned on either side of her like sentries.

Shrugging, I turned around again and focused on driving. Wanda and I, the souls, were in the front seat in case we ran into any other souls…although it was unlikely, way out here. Melanie, Jamie, Jeb, and Heidi were in the middle. Kyle, Jamie, Jodi, and Celeste were in the back.

Wanda was keeping her face perfectly smooth, but I saw the pain in her eyes. I hadn't been able to talk to her, to explain what she had seen, but even if I had gotten the chance, it didn't appear that she wanted to listen.

_**Is she jealous? **_I wondered. _**Because it seems like it…but that makes no sense, because she's in love with YOU. Why would she be jealous of Sunny?**_

___My guess is as good as yours. _Ian was slightly crusty toward me, but I tried to ignore it.

"All right," I said quietly to Wanda. "If they pull weapons, you have to get behind us _right away. _They aren't aiming for us."

"You're a soul, too, Ben," Wanda pointed out quietly. "They might shoot at you."

"I don't care," I said firmly. "Better you than me." And it was true.

I felt so at risk. Wanda and Celeste were in danger. This was going against every bit of my nature, exposing them like this. At least Petals, Wes, and Sunny were back at home, safe in the caves.

Ian was nervous, too. _You protect her at ALL COSTS, you hear me? If there's even the slightest hint…_

_**I know. I know. And if I can't do it…**_

___Then I'm switching with you, because I know that I can._

I gulped, not liking the sound of that. _**All right, **_I agreed quietly at last.

_And Celeste has to stay IN THE CAR AT ALL TIMES._

_**I know that, **_I snapped. _**I love her, too, you know. That may be your daughter, but it's my niece, and I would never put her in danger.**_

___I know, _he sighed. _I'm sorry, Ben, I'm just nervous._

_**You've got every reason to be. But we promised each other not to pull out weapons, remember?**_

___We're humans, Ben. We don't play by the rules like you souls._

I gulped again. _**At least tell me that we're going to be undercover. In a cave or something, just in case another soul comes by.**_

___Nope. Open desert sand. We're nowhere near our caves, so if the souls find us, we can easily get back in the Jeep, lose them, and circle around. Our cover won't be blown._

_**Shh, I think we're almost here.**_

__"We're here," Wanda said nervously at last, echoing my statement.

Everything shifted. Jamie and Kyle stiffened, and Kyle shifted closer to Jodi.. Jeb picked up his gun and held it more closely. Jared and Melanie sat upright. Wanda clenched her fists. Heidi clambered over the seat and slid into the back of the Jeep, closer to Celeste, who was sitting upright and rubbing at her eyes with her fists.

"Are we all ready?" Jared asked quietly.

"Yes, yes," various whispers came.

"I think they're coming."

I slid the Jeep to a stop. Celeste tried to get higher, but Heidi whispered, "Lie down, Celeste." Frowning, Celeste did so.

Jared, Melanie, Wanda, Jeb, and I got out and slammed the doors shut behind us. We circled around and opened the back doors of the Jeep. Jamie and Kyle crawled out. Jodi began to follow, but Kyle froze her with a look. Scowling slightly, she moved back a bit to sit next to Celeste and Heidi.

"Good luck," Heidi whispered just before we slammed those doors shut, too.

_**Jodi isn't coming? **_I thought as we trekked across the sand, getting a good distance away from the Jeep, but close enough that we could all dart back, pile in, and take off again at a moment's notice.

_I've got no doubt that she WANTED to go, but I've got no doubt that Kyle wouldn't let her. He just got her back, and he's not going to endanger her again any time soon._

_**So why aren't we insisting that Wanda stay behind, too? **_I asked him, because every cell in our body was screaming at us to do just that.

_She has to be present for this. These are peace negotiations, remember? This entire fight has started because of her. While it isn't her fault, we have to have her out here so that they can see that she isn't dangerous._

_**I guess you're right. But if there's any danger, any at all—**_

___Back to the Jeep, _he agreed, both of us unnaturally solemn.

Wanda must have seen our internal debate, because her jaw set. "I'm not going anywhere, Ian," she muttered, her voice low.

We sighed.

"I'll be fine," she murmured.

But we weren't quite so sure.

We all turned at what seemed to be the exact same moment, converging into a group and putting Wanda right in the middle of it. Melanie and Jared were on either side of her. Jamie was behind her. Ian and I placed ourselves directly in the front.

We saw them advancing before we heard them, muttering to themselves in low voices. A group of humans, about the same size as ours. It was clear that they were humans as they drew closer; souls would never have had such expressions on their faces. They were twisted in rage and bitterness, staring at each of us with hatred.

Except one little face in the back. A girl, not any older than fourteen. She had auburn hair that swung down to the last vertebrae in her spine, and her eyes were a shimmering hazel. She seemed more afraid than anything, waiting anxiously to see what the outcome of this confrontation would be. She seemed most concerned for a man and woman toward the front. The woman had her hazel eyes and the man her auburn hair; their features were so similar that they were clearly her parents.

I didn't have time to wonder about her before the angry humans were advancing again.

They stopped about fifty yards away from us, a big, invisible line separating the two groups. I unconsciously shifted my weight so that Wanda was shielded from view as much as possible.

The humans saw her anyway, though.

They immediately glared ferociously, all of them staring at her with such burning, hate-filled expressions that she had to turn away.

"Alex," Jared said at last, his voice nearly echoing in the dead silence. "It's so good to see you again." You could barely hear the hint of flat sarcasm in his voice.

"Pity I can't say the same, Jared," a tall, blond man snapped back. "I see you've brought the rest of your little renegade gang."

_"How dare you?" _a tall, dark-haired woman shrieked suddenly. "How dare you show your faces around here again? How dare you come back, staring mockingly at us, openly, with that—that _thing!" _She pointed at Wanda, her voice raising another few decibels.

A flash of hot anger surged through my body as my muscles tensed up. I glared at her with as much ferocity as I could manage—although, being a soul, that wasn't much.

"And they brought another one," an angry voice in the crowd hissed.

I winced.

_Well, we knew that our cover wasn't going to last long._

_**That's true, but I couldn't help but wish that it would last a little longer.**_

__"You don't understand," Jamie insisted, his voice carrying. "They're not _its. _They're humans, too!"

"How can you stand there and say that?" one of them howled. "They stole our world. They stole our bodies. They stole ourSELVES!"

"They're not all bad!" Jared insisted. "Most of them aren't. This isn't their fault!"

"Right," a man snorted sarcastically. "Sure that they're not all bad." His face was abruptly contorted with fury.

"Please," Wanda whispered, and everyone instantly fell silent. "Please, don't…don't hurt them. I don't mean you any harm, honestly."

_"LIKE HECK!" _one of the men exploded, and abruptly, a gun was being pointed directly at Wanda.

"No!" a voice cried before I had to time to respond.

We turned almost simultaneously to see Celeste dashing and stumbling across the sand. She skidded to a halt in between the two groups. Everyone stared at her in astonishment.

"What are you doing?" she cried. "Stop!"

No one responded. The humans' expressions were cold and hard.

"Celeste, get back over here," Jamie said, and his voice was just as empty and expressionless.

"No!" she yelled. "Don't hurt her!"

"Who is this?" a woman asked, disgusted, gesturing to Celeste.

Everyone else was silent.

Celeste turned to me with a tortured expression. She dashed forward and leapt into my arms, burying her face into my shoulder.

"Don't let them hurt Mommy, Uncle Ben!" she cried. "Don't let them!"

The humans' eyes grew wide with comprehension. Alex's lip curled. The women glared. The auburn-haired man looked confused and hesitant. The little girl in the back had eyes that were wide-open and terrified, staring at her parents.

"The demon _reproduced?" _Alex growled. He eyed Celeste. "Devil's spawn, huh?" he muttered, but we all heard him.

Ferocious, horrible, roiling anger swept through Ian and I. Ian fell forward and I fell back, because the violence in our body was more compatible to the human, the one who was used to it.

A snarl ripped through his teeth before we could stop it, and his arms tightened around Celeste's little body instinctively.

More humans growled back, and more weapons were drawn and aimed, not just at Wanda and me but at everyone.

"They're getting angry," Jamie hissed. "Get back in the Jeep…"

Our small party edged backward toward the car, and the doors in the back were open, explaining how Celeste had gotten out. Jodi and Heidi were frantically trying to see if she was with us.

"If you would just listen—," Jared tried to tell the humans.

"We're done listening!" Alex snarled, pointing his gun right at us. "Don't come back until you've gotten rid of the _things." _He glared at Celeste. _"All _of them," he added nastily, looking furiously at her.

"They aren't things!" Melanie growled.

"It's a relative term, I admit," Alex sneered at her. "We just call them things when we're talking about something that isn't human."

"Kyle, is that you?" Jodi hissed from inside the Jeep. "Is Celeste with you?"

Ian and I were too blinded with rage to listen.

"She's ten times the human you'll ever be!" Ian exploded through our mouth.

We knew that he had made a mistake before he did a thing. His face contorted in fury, and he raised the gun, his lips opening wordlessly…

_BANG! BANG!_

It went off, and everyone screamed and ducked.

"What's going on?" Jodi screamed. She and Heidi had clambered out of the Jeep.

"GET IN!" Jared bellowed, and everyone tried to get into the Jeep. Gunfire rang out all around us.

Jeb fired back, but he wasn't aiming to hit anyone; he was just trying to scare them. He jumped into the Jeep. Melanie grabbed Jamie, and Jared grabbed Melanie. The three tumbled in after him.

"Celeste! Is she out there?" Jodi cried, rushing forward across the sand. Before she got two steps, Kyle scooped her up, hugging her to his chest like a football, and tumbled into the back of the Jeep with her. Heidi followed, stumbling after them.

I grabbed Celeste in one hand, grabbed Wanda around the waist with the other, and tumbled into the Jeep with both of them.

"Get down!" I cried, throwing myself behind the wheel. Wanda hugged Celeste tightly to her body and slid down to the floor of the Jeep, protecting themselves underneath the dashboard. I hunched as low down to the wheel as I could, stomping down on the gas pedal. Jeb and Jamie ducked, in the middle of the seat. Jared pulled Melanie close to him, huddling on the floor of the Jeep. Heidi ducked down low, and I saw Kyle push Jodi to the ground.

I wheeled around in a U-turn, speeding off across the sand. I still hunched down low, paranoid, but the gunfire stopped after a moment. I looked in the rearview mirrors, but the humans didn't seem to be pursuing us.

We drove for a long, long time, everyone huddled up on the floor of the Jeep. It had to be nearly a half hour before Jared, Kyle and I let everyone back up again.

We were all silent for a long, long time.

"Well, that went better than I'd expected," Jared said finally.


	27. Chapter 27

**Here we are with chapter twenty-seven. This one is very deep and emotional...I really hope that you enjoy it. It was pretty hard to write this one, I'll be honest, but it had to be done. I hope you like it anyway.**

"What can we do?"

"What does this mean?"

"We're all going to die if we don't figure this out!"

I winced, leaving Jeb to deal with the angry mob of people. After all, he had been the one to explain this. As soon as we had gotten back, he had gathered everyone in the lunchroom and tried to say, in eloquent words, what had happened. Then a riot had broken out.

Jeb was not the best at lightly introducing topics.

Celeste, Wanda, and Wes were, hopefully, tucked away, safely asleep in our room. In the meantime, we were calling a meeting with the more influential people.

I wandered into the game room. Kyle, Jamie, Jared, Melanie, Doc, Aaron, Brandt, Sunny, Jodi, and, regrettably, Wanda were all gathered there. I grimaced; I'd hoped she wouldn't be allowed near this meeting. I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already had.

She saw my expression and attempted a smile, but it was too full of hurt to really work. She turned away, and I knew that, while she tried to hide it, what the humans had said about her earlier had really stung. I knew the feeling. It had stung me, too.

"All right, all right, I'm here," we heard Jeb bellow as he came into the room. We all quieted instantly, forming a tight ring in the center of the room.

"Now, what's the problem?" Jeb asked, his voice echoing through the room.

"We don't know what to do," Jamie said in a very small voice.

Jeb frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We've never had to deal with anything like this before," Jared explained. "We've all been trying to think of a solution that will work, and we can't come up with anything. None of us can agree on what would be the best way of dealing with this."

I quickly reviewed the situation.

"I don't know what the problem is," a frustrated Melanie was saying. "We've been trying as hard as we can, brainstorming so much that we all have headaches, but we've got something missing in this key equation. We just don't know what…"

"I know what we need," a heavy voice said from the corner.

We all turned to see Sunny, standing quietly and rubbing her arm with one hand.

"We need Ian," she said quietly.

Everyone was silent, and I was trying to work through the pain in her expression. It didn't look like pain for Ian, that was for sure.

"What do you mean?" Wanda spoke up, sounding a little sad and a little hopeful at the same time.

I sighed. "I know what she means," I said quietly, and everyone turned to me.

"I don't understand," Wanda cut in angrily before I could continue. "Melanie and the others had always given me the impression that the others were better at dealing with a crisis than Ian…no offense to Ian, of course," she added quickly. "I mean, Jared or someone else…" Her voice trailed off.

I sighed. "Ian's always been the diplomat in the group," I said quietly. "I'm constantly in his head; I know that better than anyone. Jared and the others are good at dealing with emergencies, but Ian has had the most patience, and he has the most experience at dealing with peace."

Everyone was quiet for a long, long time, thinking over this and contemplating it.

I felt unbelievably sad and frustrated. They needed Ian. They needed him a lot more than I did. I wanted so badly to give them all what would save them, but I was trapped here, stuck.

_That's not true, _Ian whispered. _They need you, too. You're a part of these caves now, just like me, whether you like it or not._

_**You know that they'd all benefit from you more, Ian. We both know that.**_

We were silent, because we couldn't think of what to say to each other.

"This is…a pickle," Jeb said at last, and I couldn't help but feel that he'd said the words before. Something in Wanda's and Melanie's expressions made me a bit curious, but I would refrain from asking questions.

"Let's do what we did last time," Wanda said quietly, although I didn't know what she meant by that. "Let's just take a night, sleep this off, think things over. We'll come up with a solution. We always do."

Everyone seemed to agree, and slowly the little group broke apart. I headed for the exits, too, trying to figure out where we would go.

I thought about checking on Wes first, and then Celeste. They had separate rooms. Wanda and Celeste were sharing, and I was bunking with Wes.

Just as I was about to leave, though, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Doc looking at me with an expression that was almost…apologetic.

"Can I have a word, Ben?" he asked, and there was something in his tone that I did not like at all.

"Yeah, sure," I answered warily. He drew to the side, and I followed him curiously. He stopped next to Wanda, and she looked up at us, seeming as puzzled as I was.

"It's…well, it's about Bending Petals," Doc said with a hint of reluctance in his tone.

My insides seemed to freeze, turning directly to ice. My vision grew dim, and the world seemed to spin.

"What is it?" I gasped. "Where is she? What's wrong?"

"She's all right," he assured me. "It's just…the serum."

I frowned in confusion. Ian was equally baffled. "The serum?" I asked, echoing his thoughts. "The one that's supposed to heal her? What about it?"

Wanda's expression was one of dawning comprehension, and I knew that she knew what we were talking about now.

"Well, it's just that…" Doc fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I've been looking more closely over the list of ingredients, and there were a few that were…unfamiliar to me. I asked Wanda, showing her, and she looked them over. She recognized them."

He looked up at me regretfully. "They're from the Flower Planet, Ben."

I felt my heart sink, despair settling over me. I was even more trapped here now, unable to get my sister the medication she needed to live. "What do we do?" I whispered, unable to speak any louder, and they both understood what I meant.

"Well, at the moment, we don't know what to do," Doc said sadly. "We don't know if there will be cryotanks fast enough to get you there and back, and even if there are…" He shrugged helplessly.

"I can't go," I moaned, feeling absolutely, horribly helpless. "You're right…I know I can't go."

"What do we do?" Wanda gasped, looking frightened.

We were all silent for a long time.

"I don't know," Doc whispered at last.

* * *

I wandered out of the caves, thinking about the rest of the conversation that I had with Wanda and Doc. We had agreed to sleep on this one, too, to think about what options we had.

None of us said the true words that were weighing us all down. We didn't have many options to begin with.

I was walking down the dark, quiet hallway to our room, ready to make a feeble attempt at sleep, when the sound of voices made me stop.

They were very quiet, but I crept forward and listened harder.

I could make out the high, clear soprano of Celeste, and while a small part of me wondered what she was doing in my room, I was listening to the other voice. It was a strange, soft, high, musical whisper that I hadn't ever heard before.

I peered cautiously around the doorway and saw two little figures on the bed. I could just make out Celeste, curled up next to Wes with her arms around him. Wes had his face right next to her ear, and I realized with a sudden jolt exactly who was talking.

Ian and I were completely baffled, but before we could think about it, we heard Celeste talking again.

"I know, Wes, I know it's confusing," she was saying sadly. "I just…arg, I don't know how to explain it. That is Daddy. Can't you see that? I look exactly like him."

More soft murmurs coming from Wes that I couldn't make out.

"Well, yeah, that's Uncle Ben, too. It's just…I mean, it's…they are both there, Wes. He's in there."

Wes whispered something, and it sounded like a question.

"Well, maybe you'd understand it a bit more if you talked to them," she said, and her voice turned persuasive and slightly weary, as if they'd had this conversation before. "They don't know that you can talk, Wes, because I'm the only one that you talk to! If you speak out, I'm sure that it would answer your questions…" She sighed. "Wes, why _don't _you talk to them? You talk to me just fine."

He murmured something else, seeming as if he were trying to get her off track.

"Yeah, they're both in there," she whispered to him, her little voice low. "They just go back and forth. So Daddy is here…just not very often. Not all the time."

Wes said something else that I didn't quite catch, and his voice was trembling.

"Yeah, I know, Wes." Celeste's voice broke. "I miss Daddy, too."

My knees grew weak from the horrible pain and guilt that flooded through me.

There was silence, and then Wes let out a little sniffle.

"C'mere," Celeste murmured, and he crawled right into her lap, curling up against her and sobbing. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly, cradling him and murmuring soothing words to him. I wanted so hard to run away so that I wouldn't have to bear this, but I couldn't make myself move. I stood frozen, unable to move away.

After awhile, Wes grew limp and his arms fell away from Celeste. He began to snore quietly, and she gently laid him down on the bed. She sat there for a moment before bending down to kiss his forehead. Then she slid off the bed and padded quietly out.

I ducked behind the curtain that had been pulled away from the front of the door, but she didn't seem to notice me at all, anyway. She left the room and headed down the hallway.

She didn't skip or trot like she usually did. She trudged and plodded down the hallway, and every step seemed weighted down. Her small shoulders were hunched inward, as though she carried the weight of the world on them.

She rounded the corner, and I couldn't resist following her stealthily.

I watched as Celeste made it to the room she shared with Wanda. She plodded quietly into the room.

Pumping her chubby little legs and arms as hard as she could, she climbed up onto her little cot. I watched her plop down with her legs dangling down over the edge.

I snuck into the room when she wasn't looking, standing in the corner.

To my surprise, I saw her reach under her pillow. Even more surprised, I watched her draw something out from underneath it.

I looked closer, trying to figure out what it was. It seemed to be a book…but it wasn't square. It was more horizontal than it was vertical.

Then she flipped open the first page, and I saw pictures on the pages.

_It's a scrapbook, _Ian realized.

Then we became surprised when we saw Ian in the pictures.

We looked a bit closer. In one, Jeb, wearing nicer clothes than he normally did, was posing with a piece of cake in one hand and his gun in the other. In another one, Melanie, Sunny, Trudy, Lily, and Heidi were posing in matching dresses. In yet another, Kyle, Jamie, and Jared had on suits. Jamie had frosting all over his face, Jared's hair was messed up, and Kyle was giving him bunny ears. All three were grinning crazily at the camera.

As Celeste looked through the pictures, I noticed that the pages were worn. Some of the pictures were a little tattered, and a few had little fingerprints on them.

It looked as though Celeste had gone through this book again and again.

Then she flipped another page, and I saw a breathtaking image.

Wanda was posing, smiling at the camera. Her face shone with real joy, more than I had seen other than in Ian's memories. Ian was next to her in what appeared to be an actual tuxedo, and he was grinning just as much as she was.

His hair was perfectly straight, and Wanda's curls were arranged beautifully. She was wearing a flowing silver dress that seemed to ripple and shimmer, even frozen in a photograph. She had what appeared to have a veil on her golden curls. Ian's arm was around her waist, and she was beaming up at him as though she had been given the best present in the world.

I realized in a flash what this book was. It was Wanda's and Ian's wedding scrapbook.

I saw Celeste reach out a careful finger, and she gently stroked the picture of Ian.

"Daddy…" she whispered, and there was a catch in her voice. Her voice that was so full of terrible pain that my eyes filled with tears.

It came together in that instant. She kept the scrapbook with her, under her pillow, for all these years. She looked at it and touched it whenever she felt lonely, whenever she missed the dad that had never been there for her.

She needed her dad.

In that instant, I could feel the attachment wrapped around our rib all too clearly. It wasn't an illusion this time, and I felt it when it slithered out, unwrapped itself, freed us. Instantly, it felt like we could really breathe for the first time.

I realized for the first time that I had had the power to release myself the entire time. And I finally understood that I had to leave. It wasn't just that they needed Ian for strategy, or because of my sister. Celeste was what had clinched it for me. Of course it would have been Celeste. Of course. Somehow, I had known all along.

How horrible that it had come to this. How utterly selfish and _wrong _that it would take this much, the suffering and pain of an innocent child, for me to finally realize that I had to let go.

_Don't, Ben, _Ian whispered. _We can work something out…please…_

_**Celeste needs you, **_I reminded him. _**Wanda needs you. And Petals needs me. I have to figure out a way to save her. Besides, I'm not like Wanda. I'm not dying this time. I'm just leaving. It will be all right. You have to be here.**_

_No, Ben, no. _He was sobbing now, crying, for the first time in my memories or his. _You can't leave me. I'm so sick of people leaving, so sick of being left behind. Don't go. Please._

_**You know I have to, Ian. I'm sorry. But Wanda and Celeste will be here for you. They won't be leaving you. Maybe Petals will stay, too; I don't know. Take care of her for me…**_

_You can't leave yet!_

_**No, only until we think of some way to work these problems out. But I do have to leave eventually. We both know that.**_

Then Celeste looked up and saw me, frozen.

"Oh," she exclaimed, surprised, she pushed at her cheek with one little fist. "Uncle Ben, I—I didn't know you were here."

Without saying a word, I headed down and sat next to her on the bed, hugging her tightly and staring down at the scrapbook.

She did, too. A second later, a tear splashed down on the picture.

"Oh, no!" she cried, frantically scrubbing at it. "No, no, don't ruin it, don't…"

She brushed the tear off and inspected the picture. It seemed to be all right.

Carefully, she closed the scrapbook and pushed it under her pillow again. She was frozen stiff for a moment.

Then she curled up in my lap and sobbed all her pain out. She had been strong and held her little brother while he cried, and now it was her turn. I held her as tightly as I could, never wanting to let go and yet knowing that I had to.

Because it was clear to me now what I had to do next.


	28. Chapter 28

**Here we are with chapter twenty-eight. I'm sorry if that last chapter was emotionally wrenching for some people…it was emotionally wrenching for me, too :'( sadness…You guys have all grown to love Ben so much, just like I have. Ben and Petals and Celeste and Wes…all the characters that I've been inventing have become very dear to me.**

** How will this all work out, you ask? Please make this work out.**

** I guess you'll just have to wait and see ;)**

** Sweet, though, that Wes does talk and only talks to his sister…I almost cried when I was writing that part. Man, I made myself cry. I'm not too good at this whole emotional thing.**

** Anyway…enjoy!**

"You're leaving?"

Wanda stared at me in complete and utter disbelief, her jaw slack.

"Yeah," I said quietly, rubbing the back of Petals' hand with my thumb.

"But you can't," she stammered. "Remember? Your attachment—,"

"It isn't stuck anymore," I told her, my voice heavy. "I'm free to go."

We were silent together for a long, long time.

"Ben," she said finally. "I love Ian with all my heart, you know that."

"Yeah, I do," I repeated, feeling horrible sadness. Did she have to bring that up, really? Right when I was leaving?

"But you've become like a brother to me, and I never would have asked you to go."

"Ian wouldn't have, either," I whispered. "You guys are all just too nice to me." I laughed a dry laugh. "But I have to. I would ask that of myself." I couldn't bring myself to tell her about the painful night I had witnessed with Celeste and Wes. I wouldn't make her bear that. "If not for me, for Petals. She needs me to leave, Wanda."

"But what about us?" she whispered. "We need you to stay."

I shook my head. "You don't," I told her. "We all know that you don't. Maybe you'd enjoy it if I did, for which I am very flattered, by the way, but you don't need me. You and Sunny can do things if you're looking for a soul, and you guys need Ian. You need him to help prevent a war. I would leave if it meant preventing the last human survivors on earth from killing themselves out."

Wanda was quiet for a long time. "I guess you're right," she said at last, her voice heavy with sadness.

"It will be okay," I told her. "I'm not killing myself. Just going somewhere else. It'll be harder for me than it will be for you."

"Don't count on that," she whispered, and the pain in her voice made me ache, too.

We were quiet again. There were many silences in this conversation, all of them too painful for comfort.

"I guess we should tell everyone else, huh?" I said at last.

"Yeah, Wanda whispered, and she turned away so that I couldn't see if there were tears in her eyes or not. It sure sounded like it. "I guess we should.

* * *

"All right, everyone," I said above the noise. The people in the caves had all gathered in the game room so that I could explain.

Everyone quieted down after awhile, and I took a deep breath.

"Okay. My attachment got unstuck from under Ian's rib. And yes, for those of you who didn't know, that was what was keeping me stuck here. But it's unstuck now, and I've decided…that I'm leaving."

There was a collective gasp. A few faces looked satisfied. Some looked conflicted and confused. Many were sad, and I knew I shouldn't take joy in that, but I did anyway.

One face in the back was too tortured for me to look at closely. Sunny turned away when she saw me looking.

"I need to help my sister," I explained. "And I need to give you all Ian back. I've really enjoyed my time here, but it's selfish to stay any longer. I have to leave."

"Wait," Doc piped up from the crowd. "How will your leaving benefit Bending Petals? By the time you get to the Flower planet, it'll be too late. You won't be able to get the ingredients to her in time."

"Yeah, I thought of that," I told the crowd. "So I took the Jeep and headed out on a mini research raid of my own…"

Wanda's eyes opened wide. Kyle chortled. Angry mutterings broke out.

"Listen, I wasn't going to give you all up," I snapped. "I'm sorry I didn't mention it to anyone, but I had to leave. I'm back now, no harm done. If you seriously don't still believe that I wouldn't hurt any of you, then you've got mental problems."

Everyone was abruptly silent. I was a little taken aback, myself, but I was angry. I couldn't help it.

I took a deep breath and tried again. "I poked around one of the medical centers. And they've apparently got this new brand of cryotank," I explained. "Insta-whatever. It depends on a planet, but it only takes a month at the most to get there. And it can transport items. It should take me about a week to reach the Flower planet, and I can send the ingredients back and stay there. You'll have them within a month. You just need to make sure that you're at the dock when the cryotank comes. I'm going to label it somehow so that you'll know which one it is. When it comes in, you're going to have to get it and get out of there before the other souls do. They won't know what to do with it. They'll think that it's empty, but you'll know better. Once you get the ingredients, give them to Doc. He'll know how to do it."

I sighed. "I've made a lot of friends here, and it hurts me to leave, honestly," I said quietly. "But I want to thank you all for accepting me and not judging me too harshly. I've really enjoyed my time here. I'm going to miss you guys."

Everyone was silent as I jumped down from where I had been standing and pushed my way through the crowd. I left the room, ignoring all the eyes on me.

* * *

I sat in the storage hole. It was the only place I could really be alone in. with my head in my hands, I tried as hard as I could not to think.

"Don't go, Uncle Ben. Please don't go."

The little whisper came from the front of the hole. I looked up to see Celeste standing there, her hair falling over her face.

I gazed at her and sighed. Should've known that she would have been spying on the gathering earlier.

I opened my arms wide and she ran into them without hesitation, burying her face in my chest.

"I have to go, Celeste," I murmured. "Don't you want your Daddy back?"

"But I love you, too," she whispered, tears falling thick and fast onto my shirt. I couldn't have cared less.

"I know," I whispered. "I know, baby. I love you. I love you and your mom and your brother. I love all of you. And that's why I have to go. Your dad misses you, Celeste. And my sister needs me."

"Is Aunt Petals going to die?" she whispered. I was surprised to hear her call my sister aunt, but I brushed it aside.

"Not if I leave," I told her. "Not if I go and save her. It's the only way."

Celeste cried for a long time, holding tightly onto me.

"I'll never forget you," I whispered to her. "Never, ever. Not in any of my lives. I won't ever forget you."

"Will you come back?" she whispered back, her voice trembling.

"I don't know," I whispered to her. "Probably not. That's why you have to remember me, just like I'll remember you. If we keep each other in our hearts, then we'll always be together."

She squeezed me as tight as she could, and I hugged her in return. I was crying now, too.

It was so _hard. _It was so hard to resist her, taking everything I had not to blurt out that I was going to stay, that I wouldn't leave her. But I had to leave her. It hurt so much, but I had to do it.

"Love you, baby," I whispered into her hair.

"Love you, too, Uncle Ben," she whispered back.

We understood each other. This was goodbye, our final goodbye. We would never see each other again.

She turned her head away and trudged to the entrance. It was the same defeated walk that I had seen her use a few nights ago, her shoulders hunched, her feet dragging on the floor.

She stopped at the doorway and turned, tears sparkling in her eyes.

To my surprise, she dashed back over to me, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me as tightly as she could.

She only held the embrace for two or three seconds before letting go. We stared into each others' eyes, so similar.

Then she turned and ran, ran as fast as she could to the exit. She rounded the corner, and I heard a high-pitched sob break out from her.

I saw her hair whirl out of sight, and it was the last glimpse I caught of her before she was gone.

And it was too painful to think about that I would never see her again.

* * *

_**As if one goodbye wasn't hard enough, **_I mourned to myself.

I knew that she would be here. I stepped forward carefully until I saw the light.

I saw her, too, and I knew that she knew I was there.

I stepped forward and sat next to her, our legs dangling into the gorge. Our special place, where we'd had so many conversations, where she'd poured out her bitter heart to me and had cried into my shoulder while I held her.

We were quiet for a long time.

"So this is it, then," she said, and her voice was broken, hard, and bitter. "You're leaving me."

"I don't want to leave, Sunny," I whispered, and my voice was broken, too. I hated to think of what this was doing to her, breaking her heart again when it had been broken before so many times. "I don't want to leave you."

"Then don't," she cried, and it echoed off the walls. "Don't go, Ben. Stay here with me. I won't be happy if you aren't here."

"And I won't be happy if I am," I said sadly. "Please, Sunny, doesn't that matter? If you really love me, then just let me leave. This hurts enough as it is."

Then we were both crying, and she was leaning into my side where she didn't quite fit. My arms were around her, and we hugged each other tightly, not wanting to let go for the world.

Her tears were mingling with mine on the ground, dropping into the gorge.

"I wish we'd had more time," she sobbed. "I only wanted a little more time. I only wanted _now. _I only wanted today."

"Sometimes, we just don't have today," I told her, and my voice was heavy. "Sometimes we only have hopes for tomorrow."

We were quiet for a long time before I leaned down and stared at her. In that instant, looking into her deep green eyes, I realized something startling, and I had to tell her.

"Sunny?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Her eyes widened. I didn't know if this would hurt her worse when I left. Maybe it would. But I had to tell her.

"Oh, Ben," she whispered.

And then I kissed her.

It was my last gift, the last thing I had to give her. Then we were together, just one, just Sunny and Ben, Sunlight Passing Through the Ice and Bending Leaves together. Bending Sunlight, Sunlight Passing Through the Leaves. I didn't know which was which and what was who. And it didn't matter, not to me. All that mattered was that I had her, that I loved her.

And I gave her now. I gave her today.

And then the kiss was over, and we didn't have today anymore. We only had hopes for tomorrow.

"Don't ever lose that," I whispered to her. "Don't ever lose your hope for tomorrow. There's always hope for tomorrow. Don't ever let go. Just hold on for one more day."

We were quiet together for a long, long time.

"Goodbye," I heard her whisper faintly. "I love you, too."

And then it grew too much to bear.

I pushed myself to my feet and ran as fast as I could, ran away. It hurt so bad, hurt more than saying goodbye to Celeste had. Each beat of my aching heart was like a stab of a sword, the burn of a flame. I couldn't bear it. I thought my heart would burst.

_**I have to go, **_I sobbed. _**I have to go NOW. I have to get out of this body. I can't stand it.**_

_I'm so sorry, Ben. _Ian was crying, too. _I wish I could make it better. I'm so sorry._

_**Oh…I'll be all right. **_I sniffled. _**Somehow, I'll be all right. I can make it through this. We'll be okay.**_

_I will. But you won't. It won't ever be the same for me here on earth, not without you._

_**I'll miss you, Ian. I will miss you with my entire heart.**_

We did love each other, truly, and this was our way of saying it.

I made my way to Doc's office. I couldn't manage any more. I didn't want to see anyone else. I didn't want to have to say goodbye.

But I had to. To one more person.

And she was waiting for me when I got there, already crying silently. We stared at each other for a long, long time.

Then Wanda jumped off of her chair and flew at me, hugging me hard just as Celeste had. I hugged her back wordlessly.

"Have fun as a Flower," she whispered. "I'll really miss you, Ben."

"Say goodbye to Wes for me, Wanda," I whispered back. "I can't…I can't…bear it. I can't."

She nodded in understanding. "I do love you, too, you know," she told me.

"You know I love you, Wanda. I do." And it was suddenly in the right way now, despite being in this body. It didn't matter that Ian loved her. I didn't. That distinction was clear. I didn't yearn for her in that way anymore, even though Ian did.

But I did still love her, and this goodbye still was wrenching at my already-battered heart. My soul. I thought I would explode into a million pieces if I had to bear it a second longer.

"I have to go, Wanda," I whispered to her. "You and Ian have fun together. Teach Wes how to talk to others, all right? I know he's got it in him. Help Celeste grow up for me. Make sure she stays out of trouble. And Wanda…" I sighed. "Please take care of Sunny. And Petals. Both of them. Because I won't be here to do it myself."

"All right," Wanda told me, hugging me tighter. "All right."

I turned and laid down on Doc's table. He was already there, giving me No Pain, setting everything up. I was abruptly exhausted and so, so tired. It was just like going to bed after a VERY long day.

_Miss you, Ben._

_**Take care of them. All of them. For me.**_

_I will._

_ Goodbye._

_**Bye.**_

Everything faded away into nothingness, and the darkness blessedly cooled the pain. I didn't care if this was abrupt or not. I knew Wanda had waited a few days before leaving, but I just couldn't wait that long, couldn't bear the pain for that long.

One last image swam up in front of my eyes before darkness claimed everything.

It was an image of Sunny. She was in a place I didn't recognize, and yet one that I completely did. She was in a place of healing. She was smiling at me and waving goodbye, waving me on to other planets, other lives.

She was telling me that she still had her hopes for tomorrow, and I had to keep mine.

Darkness.

**THE STORY IS NOT OVER.**

** I REPEAT, THE STORY IS. NOT. OVER.**

** Thank you.**


	29. Chapter 29

** Okay! Here we are. Whew! The last two chapters have been…er…quite emotionally wrenching, as you guys told me in the reviews…I really didn't mean to make you cry ;)**

** Oh, well, this chapter is so much happier! YAAYYY!**

** I'm really sorry if you're starting to think that this fanfic is just DRAGGING on, or if you're like, "OMIGOSH WHEN IS IT GOING TO END," because I didn't really expect it to be this long. It sort of just kept going and going…and going…and going.**

** Anyway, it's getting wrapped up here. The end is getting closer, but it isn't QUITE here yet. A few more chapters, maybe.**

** Enjoy!**

_**Ian POV**_

It was so dark, and I couldn't see.

I knew that I would be able to soon, though. I have been prepared for this. I knew what would happen now.

_Nothing could have ever prepared me for this._

Blackness, the feeling of being lost, of not being in control. This has happened to me once before. I try to separate the two instances. There's a difference between them…but I can't remember.

What is the difference?

And then an image swirled up from the darkness. It's an image of…what is it? I couldn't tell. It's something…it isn't a person. It's nothing definite. Swirls of color, an odd scent of cinnamon, a leaf.

Ben.

Bending Leaves. That's the difference. My friend. My best friend. My brother. He's gone.

And everything came rushing back to me in that instant.

Nothing could have prepared me for the pain, so real and immediate. I didn't know it would hurt that much. Every part of me ached.

Just then I felt a slight pressure.

I'm in control.

I'm in control.

I'm in

In

Control

In control

Me

My eyes flew open in that instant, because I hadn't been fully in control for almost three years. I stared up at the cave ceiling, not knowing what was going on or where I was.

"Ian, are you all right?"

The voice was calm, sure, and steady, and it came from Doc. I looked over at him, not knowing what was going on.

He smiled at my expression. "Are you all right? I know it must be confusing for you…"

"How long have I been out?" My voice sounded kind of hoarse, like it hadn't been used in awhile.

"Only a few minutes," Doc told me. "We just put Ben in one of those instant cryotanks; he must have brought one back from his raid."

I remembered Ben, and the pain hit all over again, piercing me. I sighed a quivery sigh. I wanted so badly not to let him go, but I knew that I had to. I still cared for Petals, and he did even more. We had to save her.

"It's been awhile, Ian," Doc said, smiling. "It's good to see you again."

"Back atcha," I whispered, not able to do anything else.

Then I pushed myself up into a sitting position and turned.

And standing in front of me, her lips trembling wordlessly, was the one person who could touch me, who could cause me joy right now, who could reach me through all the pain. The center of my existence.

I was up off the cot in half an instant, and then she was in my arms, and we were both crying and laughing at the same time, clinging to each other for dear life, never wanting to let go. I would never let go of her again. Never.

"Wanda," I whispered, hugging her even tighter.

"Ian, oh, Ian," she choked out, trembling all over. I looked down at her, concerned, but her eyes were alight with a fierce joy that I could barely comprehend.

I leaned down and kissed her with all the passion I had been saving ever since I'd been taken away from her. Trapped in my own body, frustrated, unable to tell her what was going on in my head. But that was changed. I was here now, with her, and that was all that mattered.

"Don't ever leave me again," she whispered, leaning her head against me.

"Never," I promised. "I told you I would come back."

"You certainly did," she laughed. "I can't say that you never keep your promises."

We couldn't seem to let go of each other, and Doc had already stepped out, either out of politeness or out of disgust.

Wanda sighed and looked over at the tank. It didn't look any different from the other cryotanks, except it was a bit smaller and sleeker, looking as if it was built to go faster. Which it was.

"Poor Ben," she whispered. "This must have really hurt him."

"It did," I agreed, suddenly solemn. "A whole lot more than he let on. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave you."

She looked at the tank again, and a tear ran down her face.

I didn't want her to be sad, not in this moment, not during our joyful reunion. We could mourn over Ben later. We were supposed to be happy right now.

I nudged her. "Now you're making me jealous," I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. She giggled and leaned her head into my chest, just like she always used to. "Ah, but you're cute when you're jealous," she sighed.

Neither of us could describe what it was like. Seeing the center of our world for the first time in three years. We had been painfully separated, ripped away from each other, again and again. But now those wounds were starting to heal. We were back together. She was here, with me, right where she belonged.

And I wasn't ever going to let her go again.

* * *

We strolled down the hallway, talking quietly, swinging our joined hands back and forth as we went at a leisurely pace. We weren't going any place specific; we were just enjoying the other's company.

We stepped into the bright, cavernous wheat fields, stopping at the end of the tunnel we'd been walking in. I leaned against the opening, chatting quietly with Wanda.

Just then, we heard a tiny voice.

"Daddy?"

We both turned at the exact same instant. Where nobody had been before, there was somebody. A tiny, slim figure standing in the entryway of another side tunnel, directly across from us.

I stared into her eyes, her beautiful, deep blue eyes that were the same as my own.

"Celeste," I whispered.

She stared at us, her face completely blank, still and quiet as a lake.

Then someone dropped a pebble in that lake. Sadness, astonishment, curiosity, and surprise traveled across her face in quick, short bursts.

And then a deep, astounding, amazing, wonderful joy lit her whole face up.

"Daddy!" she shrieked. "DADDY!"

And then she was running, sprinting, dashing across the cavern toward me. I was running, too, not caring about a thing except this child in front of me.

I stooped down, my arms held out, just as she leaped into them, crashing into me, hard. She squeezed me and squeezed me, using every bit of her strength, and I hugged her back just as tightly, trying to remind myself to be gentle but somehow unable to all the same. Neither of us cared.

She was crying again, I could feel it. But they were tears of joy this time, just like mine. We held each other in a tight embrace, the tightest we could manage.

My daughter. My Celeste.

"Daddy," she whispered, and it wasn't a question this time.

"Oh, I've missed you so much," I whispered to her. "You're so beautiful, Celeste."

She drew back and stared at me, her eyes wide. Then she grinned a huge grin.

"I love you!" she all but yelled. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Then she sighed a deep sigh of relief. "I've been waiting and waiting to say that for THREE YEARS!"

I was too choked up to say anything. I turned and saw Wanda, tears streaming silently down her face, staring at the two of us with a watery smile.

"I love you, too, Celeste," I whispered. "I love you with all my heart."

She hugged me even tighter, and I picked her up and walked over to Wanda, putting my spare arm around her. The three of us hugged tightly together for a long, long time.

Then Celeste turned her head. "Wes!" she cried.

We turned to see his golden head shyly peeping around the doorway.

Celeste squirmed, and I set her down. She ran over to her brother and knelt beside him, murmuring in his ear.

He turned to stare at me, his gray eyes wide and surprised. He looked back at Celeste, and she nodded eagerly.

He turned back to me and took a tentative step forward, and then another.

Wanda let out a wobbly gasp. "He's walking!" she whispered.

I stared in astonishment. Wes was walking, taking his very first steps.

I knelt down and opened my arms wide. He took one tottering baby step after another, trotting in a crooked line directly toward me.

And he took his first steps right into my arms.

I picked him up and hugged him tight. He threw his head back to look at me, and his eyes were wide and surprised. Then his face split into a breathtaking grin.

"You did it!" I whispered, hugging him. "I'm so proud of you."

Wes's eyes widened, and I got the sudden sense that he had been wanting me to say that ever since he met me.

I hugged him tightly. "It's nice to officially meet you, buddy," I whispered.

He laughed once, a tiny, startled sound. Then he laughed again. Celeste joined in, and soon Wanda and I were laughing, too. Giddy relief and joy mingled in the air.

Celeste climbed back into Wanda's arms, and we all hugged each other again, a real family in the truest sense of the word, together at last, together forever. We were a full circle at last, the wheels on the wagon, the slices of the pie. Together.

And none of us could describe the intense, incredible joy that we were feeling at being reunited at last.

"Ian!"

We turned and saw people spilling into the field. Kyle was in the lead, his eyes wide and bright and amazed.

"Ian!" he yelled again, and then he was running, too. I laughed loudly, put Wes down, and ran at him, slamming into him halfway. We both tumbled to the ground, and he threw a punch at me. I easily dodged it and flipped over him, and then we were both wrestling and laughing and swearing altogether.

Laughing, too, Jodi came and yanked Kyle off of me before standing up and hugging me herself.

Then all my friends and family came in. Melanie, Jamie, Jared, Heidi, Lily, Trudy, Geoffrey, Heath, Reid, Violetta, Doc again, Jeb, Aaron, Andy, Brandt, Paige. The faces swam by in a loving, joyful blur as I hugged all of them for the first time in three years.

Wanda, Celeste, and Wes came into the crowd, too, and I picked up Wes and flipped him upside down. He shrieked with laughter, squirming as I tossed him over my shoulder, laughing as well. Celeste clapped her hands and giggled, and Wanda smiled lovingly at me.

I stared at all the happy faces and felt at home for the first time.

It felt good to think that. It felt right. True.

_Home._

_ I'm home._


	30. Chapter 30

**Sheesh, you guys! At the beginning of this story, you all HATED Ben! You were like "Get Ben out of Ian! Get the soul out! Away with the soul! Bring Ian back!" And now that I actually DID that…you guys are all, "We want Ben! Bring Ben back! Give him his own body! What are you doing?"**

** You're sending me mixed signals here.**

** :D I'm just kidding! I'm really thrilled and flattered that you guys love Ben so much. He's really become close to me, too. I didn't expect that part.**

** Well, if you wanted Ben back, then you're going to LOVE this chapter. ;) I won't say any more here.**

** Enjoy!**

** P.S. The first little bit is just a father/son bonding moment. I thought it was cute, and I really wanted to display the relationship between Ian and Wes a little bit. I hope you like it!**

_**Still Ian POV**_

Wes peeped his head around the corner and looked around. Shyly, he tottered forward into the room. He saw his dad and his uncle standing in the center of it, talking, and he hesitantly walked over to them.

"…should be back soon, but I don't know if—," I was saying to Kyle. Just then, I felt something bump into my leg.

I looked down to see little Wes fall backward and land on his butt on the floor. He blinked his enormous gray eyes, and the shocked expression on his face was priceless.

I burst into laughter and leaned down, scooping up my son.

_My son. _The words gave me a thrill whenever I thought them.

"How are you, buddy?" I asked him. He flashed his million-dollar smile at me, but didn't respond, as usual. I sighed and hugged him.

He turned and grinned at Uncle Kyle. Kyle grinned back and held out his fist, and Wes tapped his little one on Kyle's giant one.

"What's up, Wes?" he asked, grinning. Wes shrugged. Then he turned and grinned at me. He reached his little fist up, and I stared at him, not knowing what he was doing.

Then he rubbed his fist back and forth on my head as hard as he could (which wasn't very hard), giggled, dropped down from my arms, and began to run.

Kyle howled with laughter. "You just got noogied by a baby, bro!" he laughed.

"Wes, how could you?" I wailed, pretending to be shocked.

He looked over his shoulder and let out a snort of laughter before running again.

"Oh, that's how it's gonna be, huh?" I growled playfully. I chased after him, and he let out a shriek and ran faster.

I caught up with him easily and flipped him over my shoulder. He was letting out peals of laughter and beating on my back with his little fists. Although he didn't talk, the message was clear—_put me down, put me down!_

"Nope!" I said cheerfully, pretending to drop him and then catching him quickly, tossing him up in the air again. He shrieked with laughter, showing the full extent of his dimples. I caught him again and began to tickle him.

He squirmed ferociously and couldn't stop giggling. He shook his head at me. _No, no, no!_

"That's what you get when you noogie me!" I laughed. "You messed up my hair, buddy! You don't mess with Daddy's hair. It's a total chick magnet." I laughed again and tousled his curls. "You got your Mama's hair."

He squirmed hard, and I set him down on the floor, kneeling so that I was at his height. He turned and crouched down, letting out a ferocious little growl, and then he sprang playfully at me, crashing into his chest. I grabbed him so that he wouldn't fall.

"Oh, no!" I wailed. "Oh…he got me…ohhhhh…" I collapsed on the floor, and he giggled harder than ever, perched on my chest.

Then I flipped him carefully over my head, not letting go for a second, and put him on his feet behind me. Whirling around, I wrapped my arms around him and rolled over, and he squirmed, trying to get free.

"He's already a good wrestler," I heard Kyle laugh.

Wes accidentally punched me in the nose with his tiny fist, which caused me to let out a yelp of surprise and loosen my hold, and he slithered out of his hold and landed on the ground, still growling and baring his tiny teeth like a lion would.

He sprang at me, and I pretended to fall to the ground again. He began to laugh.

"WE'VE GOT IT!"

I sat up, Wes falling onto my lap, to see Jamie burst into the room. Wanda, Melanie, and Jared were right behind him. Jamie was triumphantly holding a cryotank.

"Are you sure?" I asked doubtfully. "Are you positive that's the right one?"

Wanda was grinning at me. She must have seen our little roughhouse.

"I'm sure," Jamie exclaimed, dropping down beside me and Wes and displaying the side of the cryotank. "Ben said that he'd label it for us somehow, right? Well, look!"

I squinted. Scratched, etched into the metal on one corner was a picture of a tiny leaf.

"That's got to be it!" Jamie proclaimed.

"Wow." I shook my head. "I wonder how he managed THAT."

"Come on!" Jamie exclaimed. "Let's go get it to Doc and see if he can help Petals with it."

We got to our feet, but Wes still clung to my shirt, not wanting to let go.

"You want to come with?" I asked him, and he nodded. I lifted him up onto my shoulders, and he squealed with delight, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. I winced and held onto his legs so that he didn't fall, and then we took off, hurrying down the southern tunnel toward the hospital.

"Where's Sunny?" I asked Wanda in a low voice as she hurried next to me, reaching up to rub Wes' hand.

She sighed. "We still don't know," she said quietly. "We haven't seen her since Ben disappeared."

"I'll go talk to her later," I murmured. "Maybe if Petals wakes up, she'll be able to help."

"I don't know," Wanda murmured back. "I've never met Bending Petals before."

"Yeah, neither have I," I agreed. "Only the time she came, of course. Other than that, though, I've only seen her in Ben's memories."

It still hurt me to talk about Ben. I hadn't really realized quite how close we had become. I felt strange, odd, empty without him inside of me. Lighter, somehow. Hollow. It didn't feel good. It was as though he had taken a piece out of me when he was removed.

"I really miss him," I whispered.

Wanda laid a comforting hand on my arm. "I know, baby. I miss him, too."

We saw the lights up ahead and hurried into Doc's office.

He looked up, grinning at us. "Did you get the ingredients?" he said excitedly. "Jamie said you were going out to find the cryotank…"

"We have them right here," Jamie said excitedly, holding the tank out.

"All right. Look into the tank first to make sure that we have the right ones," I instructed. Ben had told me all about how to do this before he had been taken out.

Jamie frowned at the smooth silver metal. "How do I see into it?"

"There should be a small viewing spot on the very top," I told him.

Jamie put his eye up to it. "Wild!" he said in a hushed voice, and then examined it more closely. "Hmm…yeah, this looks like what we need." Then he frowned. "Wait a minute…I think there's something else in here."

"What?" I was alarmed. "What else is in there?"

"I…can't see it clearly…er…" Jamie's face creased into a frustrated frown as he tried tipping the cryotank one way and then another.

Just then, there was a commotion in the hallway.

"What do we do?"

"What's the matter with her?"

"I don't know what happened!"

We whirled to see Kyle, Jodi, Jeb, Andy, and Paige coming in through the entrance. Kyle and Andy were supporting the limp body of someone…

"Sunny!" I moaned.

Her eyes were closed, her clothes were dirty, and she was pale and unmoving. I didn't know what to do.

"What's the matter with her?" Wanda cried, frightened. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Kyle cried, frustrated. "We found her next to one of the gorges…"

Wanda gasped. "She didn't…she didn't throw herself in, did she?"

"No!" Paige assured us. "No, the body isn't physically harmed. I just don't know what happened."

I scanned one face after another. Jeb, Paige, Kyle, and Andy all seemed frightened and completely shocked.

Then I looked at Jodi. She looked vaguely nervous and uncomfortable. I turned and saw that Doc had the same expression.

Before I could say something, they had laid Sunny's body out on the table. Doc had a flashlight. He opened one of Sunny's eyes and shone the light into it.

We were all silent, but no reflective beams were thrown onto the walls.

I got closer, staring in astonishment.

"That's not Sunny!" I cried. "Sunny isn't in there!"

"All right, all right," Doc soothed. "Listen, let's just calm down. First, we have to see if we can help Petals, and then we can try and sort this thing out with Sunny."

We took a step back as Doc opened the cryotank. He took out a few odd things. One looked a bit like dirt. There were two black round things that appeared to be a type of seed. There was a pale brown/green root. And in one hand was something that appeared to be a flower, but it was the most astonishing, most beautiful, brightest flower I had ever seen. Every color of the rainbow was in it, and then several other colors that I had no name for.

He bustled over to his desk and worked for several minutes while everyone waited in tense silence. When he straightened up again, he was holding a syringe that had an odd green liquid inside it.

"This should do it," he said quietly. "My measurements have been very careful, very precise. All the ingredients that we needed, including the ones from the Flowers, are in here."

"Let's hope it works," I whispered, feeling exceedingly nervous.

We were all silent, holding our breath as he injected the serum into her arm.

We waited several seconds after he drew it out.

"Maybe it doesn't work right away," Jodi offered hopefully when Bending Petals didn't respond.

Before we could comment, though, with a gasp, her bright green eyes flew open wide, staring at the ceiling. She was breathing heavily, like she had just run a marathon, and seemed completely confused and lost. The bemused expression on her face made me cautious. It was clear that she didn't know what was going on.

"Ben!" she gasped, her eyes wheeling about brightly. "Where is Ben?"

"He's—he's on the Flower planet, Bending Petals," I said, my voice quiet but clear.

"No, he's not," she said frantically. "That's what you thought…where's the other soul? Did she hear me? Did she listen to me?"

"What's going on?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. "What is she talking about?"

"All right! There is definitely something else in this tank!" Jamie was tilting the tank one way and then another, trying to see.

"Open it, then!" Jared was irritable.

Jamie did so, frowning, and then something fell on the floor.

I gasped in astonishment, as did several others. The thing instantly began to twirl around in circles, flopping about on the floor. The thing was silvery with many billowing attachments.

The thing was a soul.

A very specific soul.

All souls did look the same, but in that instant, I knew exactly who it was on the floor.

"Ben!" I screamed. "That's Ben!"

"What?" Wanda was astonished.

"That's Ben! That soul is Ben! He was in the cryotank with those ingredients!" I yelled. "He'll die! We have to get him in a tank—or a body—or SOMETHING—,"

"NO!"

The shout came from Petals. She had jumped off of her cot and was now standing, her eyes alight as she stared at her twin brother, squirming on the ground.

"What?" I demanded. I didn't care who she thought she was. I wasn't going to let her kill him.

"Just wait," she said breathlessly. "Just watch. If he's the same as me…something is going to happen."

We all stared in astonishment, but nothing happened…except that Ben began to twitch and convulse faster and more.

Just as I opened my mouth to protest, I saw something odd happening.

A shimmering, sparkling, silver light was beginning to twirl around Ben. He slowly stopped moving and held still. For a moment, I was afraid that he'd died, that it was too late.

And then his attachments began to slowly…almost…weave around one another, braiding themselves into an intricate pattern. They moved faster and faster, billowing around and twisting themselves, almost like dancing. The light grew stronger and stronger.

Then it flashed in an enormous blast, so bright that we all had to cringe and shield our eyes.

When it faded, we looked up, but Ben the soul wasn't on the ground anymore.

There was a boy in its place.

The boy looked older than Petals, but younger than me. He had dark brown hair and pale, smooth skin. I stared in astonishment.

Then his eyes flew open, and they were a dark, deep chocolate brown. The faintest silver shimmer was visible behind the irises.

We all stared in astonishment. Everyone, that is, except me. Because I knew exactly who that person was.

"Hello again, Ben," I whispered, trying hard not to cry.


	31. Chapter 31

**Hello, all! Chapter thirty-one!  
**

**Man, I surprised a lot of you with that whole twist thing that I pulled at the end. :) I've twisted you guys so much in this story that you must be pretzels by now!**

**Enjoy the next chapter!**

_**Ben POV**_

Something wasn't right here.

I didn't quite know exactly where I was, but I knew that wherever it was, it wasn't where I was SUPPOSED to be. Where had I been, though? Where WAS I supposed to be?

I had vague remembrances of something else, somewhere else…bright petals…sunlight…seeds…so many different colors…

Flowers. Yes, that's right. I'm supposed to be back with the Flowers.

Then where am I now, and why do I feel so weird?

I moved some muscle somewhere, and in that instant, I could immediately see. I could see everything.

_**I must have opened my eyes, **_I thought.

This landscape looked familiar. _Suspiciously _familiar.

I stared up at the familiar volcanic purple rock, dusty and cratered. I felt the familiar hard stone beneath my hands. I was lying down on it. Why? That was beside the point.

And this sort of body felt all too familiar.

"What happened?" I cried, and the voice was unrecognizable. But I put that aside. I must be just too tired to recognize it properly. "I told you guys—why would you take me back? I don't want to be trapped in Ian anymore. You need him! What's going on?"

_**Ian, Ian! I'm so sorry, **_I thought frantically. _**This wasn't my idea, honest! It was…**_

_** …Ian?**_

There was no response. No familiar, friendly presence in the back of my mind. Just me. Alone. Scared. And now very, very confused.

"You're not in Ian," a very familiar voice answered from far away. My old voice. "Look at yourself!"

I blinked. Someone was holding a mirror in front of me.

I stared at the face in the mirror. Dark brown hair that was swept over to one side. Wide chocolate brown eyes with lashes long enough to curl. Pale skin without freckles.

I had never seen the face before in my life, but everything suddenly fit together and matched. In that instant, it was perfectly natural, and OF COURSE that was my face. I recognized it completely.

"What…" I whispered, no table to understand. "What's going on?"

"I think your sister can answer that question," the same voice said with a hint of a smile, and I looked up to see Petals standing over me and grinning.

Petals!

Petals!

Petals!

"Petals, you're okay!" I cried. I was off the floor in an instant, and I she was in my arms in another instant. I hugged her as tightly as I could. "I missed you so much…you got the ingredients for the serum, then?" I asked Doc.

He smiled and nodded.

"There's something ELSE in here!" a disbelieving shout came from Jamie. We turned to see him staring into the tank.

"DON'T OPEN IT!" everyone shouted.

Jamie opened it.

Another soul fell out onto the floor.

I didn't know how I knew, but I knew exactly who that soul was.

"Sunny!" I screamed. "That's Sunny! What is she doing in there?"

"What?" Kyle roared.

Jodi bit her lip and said nothing.

"We have to get her back into her body, quick!" Petals cried.

"Will she do the same thing that Ben did?" I asked.

"No!" Petals cried. "Quick, hurry!"

Doc quickly scooped her up and put her on the table. "Jodi, I need you!" he yelled. Jodi ran over.

"Get Sunny back in the tank, quick!'" he told her.

She grabbed the tank from Jamie and quickly put Sunny in it. Doc gave Sunny's body some NO Pain. He quickly made the incision line and opened it wide.

"Okay!" Doc called to Jodi, and she opened the tank and took Sunny out. Carefully holding her to the incision, Sunny slid smoothly into her body and began to put all of her attachments into place.

Doc sealed the line up again. We all waited breathlessly.

Moaning, Sunny's green eyes fluttered open.

"Sunny!" Kyle cried. "Thank goodness!"

"Did—did it—did it work?" she asked blankly.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

But Jodi, Doc, and Petals were smiling. "Yes," Petals exclaimed, reaching down to hug Sunny hard. "It worked!"

I stood on wobbly feet, trying to adjust to this new body. "What's going on?" I asked crossly. "You guys need to give us an explanation."

Petals nodded. "All right." She sighed and sat down next to Sunny.

"Jodi and Doc are in on this, aren't they?' Ian said skeptically.

"What?" Kyle demanded. He turned to glare at Jodi. "You said that you didn't know anything about this!"

"Sunny told me to tell you that!" Jodi said defensively. "I would have told you eventually…"

"All right," Petals whispered. "It appears that this isn't the first time that twins have occurred from one of a Mother's cells. Whenever it occurs, though, the twins never survive. Ben and I, to my knowledge, are the first two to live through that experience."

She took a deep breath. "I don't have all the information about it, of course, but something went slightly wrong when our Mother was creating us, and that's what caused my illness. The serum fixed it now, of course—at least, I hope so—but that's what happened.

"And to my knowledge, the illness is what saved me and Ben in the first place!"

"How so?" I asked, astonished.

She smiled down at me and explained what I had missed, how I had fallen out of the cryotank onto the floor and how I had changed, been given a body without even having to be inserted.

"And you knew that was going to happen?" I asked her skeptically.

She nodded. "Of course!" She sounded offended. "I would never have put him in danger like that if I hadn't been positive that it was going to work."

"How did you know?"

"When the other medical souls were researching my illness, they came up with a lot of research and theories," she explained. "This was one of them. And I knew that it was going to work because…well, because it happened to me, too." She gestured to her body. "This is my body. Not one that I inhabited. Actually MY body. When they brought me to this planet, they made a mistake. The body wasn't ready, and I fell on the floor underneath the cot. They were running around and trying to find me, and then there was a flash of light and I appeared here in this body."

"Weird!" Jamie cried. "Why did that happen?"

"The thing that went wrong when our Mother was born," Bending Petals explained. "Or, actually, what went right, because we both should have died. But the thing that went wrong was that it changed our cells and added a very interesting attachment."

She sighed. "If you're looking at me or Ben very closely and comparing us to a different soul, there are a few differences. We're smaller, of course, because we're really only halves of our Mother's cell. But there's another attachment that we have, an extra one. It's a darker silver than the rest of them. And it gives us the ability to adapt."

"Adaptation?" Jared sounded confused.

"Yes. That attachment is how we survived being split. We were the first ones to do it because of our extra attachment. I don't know quite how it works, but it gives us adaptation instinct. So when we were on the floor dying and we didn't have a body, our attachment made it so that we provided a body for ourselves."

"That's incredible!" I exclaimed. "I didn't know anything about that."

"I didn't, either," Bending Petals admitted, "until I got to this planet. They made it seem as though this body was previously human, and I didn't know the story of my body appearing, like Ben's had.

"Well, er…I was in a hospital one time, and there were some files that were all top secret, that they wouldn't show me. And they left the room for a minute, and…er…well…"

I understood, grinning. "You snooped around, didn't you, Petals?"

She blushed hard. "Well…I…okay, yes. But I didn't read all of it." She turned to Sunny. "I think that you can explain this next part better than I can…"

Sunny nodded and got to her feet. "After Ben left me and was removed, I was waiting just outside the southern tunnel for a chance to go in privately and…and…say goodbye." She coughed a little and continued. "Doc left, and I hurried in. Just as I was about to, though, Petals woke up.

"She tried to explain everything like she just did, but she was about to be unconscious again. All she told me was that it would be safe to bring Ben back here to Earth, and I had to make sure that it happened. Then she fell asleep again.

"Jodi came in at that instant looking for me. I tried to tell her what was going on, and she agreed to help. Doc did, too. He removed me and put me in the tank with Ben. Then Jodi took care of my body in here for me, making sure that it was getting nourishment and everything.

"I went to the Flower planet with Ben, but he didn't know that. And I rigged it up. Instead of having them JUST put the ingredients in the tank, I had him put the ingredients AND Ben in the tank, and me, too. We all came back to Earth, and I didn't know if it was going to work or not." She smiled that breathtaking smile at me. "I guess it did."

"I guess so," I agreed, smiling back at her.

"I kept Sunny in here, making sure that her body was getting nourishment," Jodi explained. "Then they put together a big, official search party for her, and I didn't want it to look suspicious when they didn't find her at all. I didn't want them to panic. So I took her body and put it by the gorges, and then I pretended to find her. But when we got back in here, Ben and Sunny were already back."

We were all silent for a moment, trying to absorb this huge rush of information.

"So…" I managed at last. "I can stay. Here. With you guys. In my own body."

Ian's smile was blinding as he stared at me, and Petals was grinning, too.

"And Petals can stay?" I asked eagerly.

They nodded, smiling bigger and bigger.

I tried to absorb this. I could stay. Petals was all right. She was healed, and wasn't sick anymore. She could stay, too.

And I could be here.

With Sunny.

With Ian.

With my family.

In that instant, I was trying just as hard as Ian not to cry, too.

"I can't believe this," I choked out at last.

"Believe it, Uncle Ben," came the voice I never thought I would hear again, and my broken heart soared as Celeste peeped her head out from behind one of the cots, where she had been spying on us the entire time. "You're here to stay!"

_**THIS IS STILL NOT THE END OF THE STORY.**_

**I will let you guys know when it's the end of the story. I have definitely two, possibly three chapters left. So please stop assuming that it's over! **** It's not over yet!**

** (I'm having denial issues with finishing this whole thing.)**


	32. Chapter 32

**It's...almost...over.**

***sob***

**I can't go on...just enjoy this chapter, okay?**

_**Back to Ian POV**_

It seemed like our perfect fairy-tale ending, everything wrapped neatly up with a bow on top. Until we realized that we'd just wrapped a grenade that exploded and messed the entire thing up.

Because there was still a problem, still one problem. Still one thing left unexplained, unsolved.

The threat of war, looming over every one of us. The vicious, angry humans on the verge of attack.

And really, hadn't that been our problem all along?

Ben and Petals had been living with us for a month now when Jeb had announced that we had to meet with the humans again. Now we were on our way to make negotiations again.

"I don't want you to come out with us," I said again.

Wanda glared up at me through narrowed gray eyes. "Don't start with that. We're in this thing together. Both of us." She slipped her little hand into mine, and I gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I know that we're a team," I told her. "But you saw those humans last time. They're really angry. I don't want them to see you and just automatically fire."

She and I both winced at the thought.

"All right," she sighed.

"And you're sure that Celeste and Wes are going to stay IN the car this time?"

She shook her head wearily. "With those two, I guess we can only hope." She sighed. "You know, I'd hoped that Wes being around would help keep Celeste OUT of trouble. You know, teach her responsibility. But all it does is give her a partner in crime."

I laughed. "You can say that again."

Wanda looked solemnly out the window. "I would, but we don't have time. We're here."

Everyone came along for the ride, especially all the souls. Wanda, Ben, Petals, and Sunny. We wanted no secrets, no surprises, everything in the open. It had been my idea, actually.

Sunny was close to Ben, and he had his arm around her, looking tense and nervous. Jamie, Jeb, Jared, Melanie, Kyle, Jodi, Trudy, Lily, Wes, Geoffrey, Heath, Heidi, and of course, Celeste and Wes were all crammed into the Jeep. I was surprised that we'd been able to fit everyone.

I gulped nervously and eased the truck to a stop.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"All right, guys, this is it," I said into the quiet. "No matter what you do, try to keep your temper and refrain from saying anything that will set them off. This is a rowdy bunch we're dealing with here."

"You can say that again," someone muttered; I didn't see who.

"That's right," I agreed. "Everyone out. All souls should probably stay to the back or the middle some…just in case. No front line deals."

Ben, Sunny, Petals, and Wanda nodded mutely.

We all piled out except Heidi, who stayed with Celeste and Wes. Jodi gave Kyle such a ferocious look that he begrudgingly allowed her to come with us this time.

After waiting several minutes in tense silence, we saw the people coming.

"It's a miracle they agreed," Jamie murmured.

"Yeah, Jeb," Jared agreed. "They told us last time not to come back unless we took care of the souls, and they meant it. How did you convince them to meet with us again?"

Then came a shout from the other direction.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

We all whirled, grouping together in the exact same instant.

Alex was in the lead, his face contorted with rage.

He was staring at Wanda. Then his eyes flickered to Ben, then Petals, and Sunny, and Wanda again. Around and around.

_"You didn't tell them that the souls were still here?" _I hissed. "And that there are _more _of them? Come on, Jeb! It'll look like we're smashing this in their face!"

In half an instant, Alex had drawn his weapon and pointed it straight at Petals, the first soul that he had been able to aim at.

"Don't!" Ben shouted, jumping in front of his sister.

Alex's expression wavered slightly, like something in the action had made him uncertain.

"Alex, put the gun down." My tone was calm, soothing, pacifying. "Let's just talk through this before we yank the weapons out."

He stared at me. "You were a soul," he snapped at last.

"Not anymore." I shook my head. "I'm just me. I'm human. See?"

He still stared, his expression uncertain. At last, he lowered the gun to his side, not letting it go, pointing it at the ground.

I took a deep breath. "All right. Let's work through a few points." I very subtly took a step to the side so that I was between him and Wanda. "You've got an objection to the souls that are living in our community."

"**** yeah, we do!" he swore at us.

"Watch your language, there are ladies present," Jeb drawled.

Alex glared at him.

"Okay," I interrupted, drawing the conversation back to me. "What is your specific complaint against this?"

Several people stared at me openly, as if to say, _you're kidding me, right?_

I ignored them. I was doing this professionally.

"What isn't?" a woman next to Alex snarled. "They've invaded our species. They've taken our homes. They've erased us. They've killed us! They've destroyed our lives! And you take them in like they can be trusted."

I nodded slowly. "I know," I said softly.

She stared at me, completely thrown off track, stopping whatever she was going to say. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting this.

I took a deep breath. "I know how you feel," I said to all of them. "You're bitter and angry at these souls for invading our homes and taking our world away from us. And you're right. That wasn't right. That wasn't fair. They shouldn't have done that." I was being very careful to only repeat what Wanda had already admitted so that it didn't sound like I was accusing her. I was trying to dismantle a bomb, but if I made one wrong move, I could set the entire thing off, hurting everyone. I became as careful as was possible.

"But that doesn't qualify to everyone," I told them. "Not all of these souls are bad. In fact, most of them aren't. They just don't know that they're taking innocent lives. They're in the dark. If they thought that what they were doing was something bad, they never would have done it. Souls are good and pure and kind, all of them." I smiled. "I've gotten to know several. They're not so bad. And most of this, the taking of our planet, wasn't their decision any more than it was ours." I gestured to Ben. "This soul was the soul that was previously inside of me," I told them in a clear voice. "I remained, though. I wasn't erased. We were both trapped in one mind. He could have betrayed me, told the Seekers, and I would have been killed. But he kept me a secret. He saved me." I turned to smile at the crowd watching me. "He took me back home to my family. And as soon as it was possible, he gave me my body back."

Now the humans were looking deterred, confused, torn. They didn't know who to trust anymore. Except several faces in the crowd that were still mistrustful. Still angry.

"And you can form normal human relationships with these souls," I continued, energized by my success. "They're no different from us." I turned and smiled at Wanda, and then at Ben. "I know that better than anyone."

And in that instant, their faces were contorted with black fury again as they looked from me to Wanda, finally understanding what was going on.

"Oh, crap it, no, she did NOT," Alex snarled. "She tricked you! That monster tricked you into falling in love with IT!"

"She did not!" I yelled back, stung.

The bomb was beginning to go off. I had made one false move, one slip.

And then Alex aimed his gun at me.

I was not expecting Wanda's reaction.

"NO!" she screamed. Shoved me to the side with enough force that it surprised me enough to slip. She darted in front of me, in front of the crowd, TOWARD the humans.

"Don't hurt him!" she yelled.

Alex stared at her. Then he was wavering again.

Instinct abruptly took over, and anger, rage, fury, DARKNESS took over his expression as he aimed the gun at her.

I lunged forward but before I could get there, there were running footsteps.

We all turned to see the only thing that could possibly make the situation worse for me.

Wes.

Running, shoving his way through the crowd better than I'd thought he was able to. He ran all the way to Wanda.

"Wes, don't!" I yelled, trying to catch him as he passed, but he dodged and raced forward anyway.

Then he opened his mouth.

I saw it coming, but it didn't take the astonishment away in the least.

Because little Wes opened his mouth and screamed, "STOOOOOOOOOP!"

Everyone in our crowd was completely flabbergasted, blown away.

But I knew what was going on. Little Wes had found his voice at last.

He collapsed on his knees next to Wanda, clinging to her. "Don't hurt her," he sobbed to Alex. His voice was clear and musical, the perfect mix of mine and Wanda's. "Please don't hurt my Mommy." We were all astonished, listening to Wes speak for the first time.

Now Alex definitely looked uncertain. Several other people had pulled their weapons, too, but no one aimed them.

"Please!" he cried, yelling again. "Don't!"

"What trickery is this?" a woman hissed, and to my panic and horror, her gun was abruptly aimed at my little boy.

Wanda, panicking, backed up to our group. "Wes, come here!" she cried, her voice breaking.

"NO!"

Then came the only OTHER thing that could increase my panic. Celeste dashed forward. She dropped on her knees next to Wes and hugged him, shielding his tiny body with hers.

"What kind of sick monsters ARE you?" she screamed at them, tears running down her face. "You would shoot a BABY? And you have the nerve to say that WE'RE not human?"

Alex snarled and began to raise his gun.

"NO!" Wanda yelled, beginning to dash forward again.

"Wanda, DON'T!" I managed to grab her around the waist this time. She fought against me with everything that she had.

"Wes, go to Mommy," Celeste murmured.

_What are you doing? _I wanted to scream at her, panic engulfing me, turning my vision into a blurry haze. I couldn't lose her. Not now. Not again.

She released Wes, and he scrambled backward. Wanda stretched her arms out frantically, and he jumped into him. She held him the best she could, because I was still holding onto her, keeping her from rushing out there to Celeste.

Then Celeste took a deep breath and stood up. Straight, tall, proud, and brave, in the no-man's land between our group and theirs. Facing all the angry faces, all the weapons drawn and pointing at her.

"Listen!" she said urgently, and everyone was listening.

She seemed to be talking straight to Alex, and yet talking to each and every individual in the crowd. "I know that you don't like people like Mommy. Like Miss Sunny and Uncle Ben and Aunt Petals."

She was nearly crying now.

"But you don't have to be afraid of them!"

Several people in the crowd looked thunderstruck.

She continued earnestly, still half-crying. "I know why you're afraid. They've taken away so much from you guys and you're afraid because you don't want anything else to be taken away from you."

Everyone looked definitely surprised now. She seemed to have hit the nail on the head.

"But I know that they wouldn't hurt us, or take anything away from us. Because they love us!"

Some of the people in the other group of humans were beginning to look understanding.

"I can see that every time Aunt Petals does my hair. Every time Miss Sunny plays with me. Every time my mother hugs me or tells me she loves me or reads me a bedtime story or sings to me when I have nightmares." She stared at them with big, blue, solemn eyes. "Or when Uncle Ben gave his body back to my Daddy and left so that Daddy could be with me and my mom and my brother."

Alex lowered his gun, looking surprised.

"Don't you see?" she cried. "They're good people. They love us. And I don't say that because they've tricked us or brainwashed us. I say it because it's real. They love us, and they would never hurt us. They're a part of our community, and they help protect us and keep our secrets. They've saved several of our lives, several times over. They love us, and we love them. We love them all a lot. They're a part of our community, all of them. So please—," she was crying again. "Please, _please _don't hurt them!"

The humans were silent for a long, long time.

Then, almost simultaneously, they grouped together to converse.

After murmuring together for several tense minutes, they regrouped together.

Some of the faces looked happy, but almost half looked completely furious.

Then someone stepped forward.

I blinked. It was the auburn-haired girl that I had noticed the last time we had faced the humans, the only one who hadn't looked angry.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and we had to strain to hear her. "We've decided, under the evidence given to us, that the souls aren't to be bothered. That's our decision. We're going back home now."

She melted back into the crowd, next to the two humans that had appeared to be her parents.

I had a feeling that the girl and her parents had a great deal to do with the decision they had come to, and I was ever so grateful.

The humans dropped their weapons, some looking disgusted. Most of them were satisfied with this answer, moved by little Celeste's speech. But there were those in the crowd whose faces clearly said _this isn't over._

I wasn't going to focus on those, though. I was going to focus on the fact that they were leaving. They were going away. They had promised not to bother us. My family was safe and full and complete again.

I nearly burst with joy, but I waited until they were completely gone over the horizon.

There was a long silence, and then Ben yelled, "ALL RIGHT!"

That broke the ice. Everyone laughed, letting out a big cheer.

I released Wanda, grinning enormously, and Wes jumped to his feet. We all raced out to Celeste, hugging her tightly. She kissed Wanda's cheek, hugged me tightly, scooped up her brother.

"You did it, Celeste!" I cried. "You saved the day."

She beamed at me. "It wasn't just me," she said modestly. "It was all of us together. You and Mom took them off guard, and Wes actually made them stop. I just sealed the deal, that's all."

She turned and beamed at Wes, squeezing him tightly. "See?" she whispered to him. "I told you good things would come from talking. You saved the day, Wes. You saved all of us."

He grinned that amazing smile. "Yeah," he said in his clear musical voice. "I guess I did."

Celeste squeezed him, hard.

"You guys were amazing!" Ben yelled, dashing over to us. He and I pounded each other on the back, grinning. Sunny dashed after him, grinning at us. She had been completely transformed since Ben came back, always smiling, eyes sparkling.

Just then, we heard a shriek of delight. We turned to see Bending Petals, who had also been entirely transformed. Her olive complexion was no longer pale and haggard; she had been rounded out and was no longer thin. Her eyes sparkled, and she was beaming at somebody.

We didn't see who, though, until she ran right into his arms.

Jamie's.

We all stared in astonishment as he laughed, picking her up and swinging her around in a circle. He put her back on her feet and hugged her tightly. She grinned up at him.

Then he kissed her.

There was a collective gasp from everyone as we stared at them in astonishment. They didn't seem to care, completely lost in one another.

Then, with a gasp, he drew back, and they stared at each other. A slow blush was spreading over her face, but she didn't look away from him.

Then they turned and saw Ben's and Melanie's expressions.

Jamie coughed slightly. Petals looked afraid for the first time.

I looked uncertainly from Ben to Petals and back again.

"Busted," Kyle snickered.

Then everyone exploded. Melanie started screaming a bunch of things that I wouldn't care to repeat. Wanda and I covered Celeste's and Wes's ears. Ben started yelling, too, but they were yelling so loud and fast that no one could understand what they were saying. Everything was chaos, everyone shouting and running around. Jamie grabbed Petals' hand and they ran, laughing hard, as Ben and Melanie chased after them, still screaming.

"Well," I said plaintively. "That was interesting."

"And unexpected," Wanda giggled.

"I think Uncle Jamie and Aunt Petals are in looo-ooove," Celeste sang, pushing Wanda's hands away from her ears.

Sunny and Jodi were in hysterics, leaning against each other for support as they watched Ben and Melanie chase Jamie and Bending Petals around.

Well, this was an interesting development.

But the moment was too full of joy for me to really notice all the problems, or even think about them. My family was complete. The humans wouldn't bother us. I was safe. Ben was here to stay.

I hugged Wanda, drew Celeste and Wes close.

And for the first time, I knew that everything was going to be all right.

My heart was so full of joy that I thought it would explode. Celeste grinned up at me. Wanda hugged me.

"I still can't believe it," she whispered. "How did this happen? How did we win?"

Wes smiled up at us, finally speaking out with his new voice that he'd found at last.

"Because we kept our hopes for tomorrow, Momma," he said in a clear voice. "And that's always the most important thing to have."

**I know this is like the third time I've said this. But the story is STILL NOT OVER.**

** It's close, though. *frown* Only one more chapter, and we're done.**

** *sob* *wail* *sniffle* *cry* *tears***

** I'm having some problems letting go.**


	33. Chapter 33

***sniffle* *sob* Here we go...the last chapter. The epilogue, if you will.  
**

***funeral march music***

**I...I just...I just can't. Just read the chapter! *wails* *runs from the room***

_**Ben POV**_

"Good game, Ben!"

I grinned and high-fived Ian as he jogged over.

"Who would have thought that your new body was good at soccer?" he asked me rhetorically.

"Not me, that's for sure," I chuckled. "I didn't even know what it was or how to play before I came here!"

My team had just won the game, although Ian had been slightly hampered because he had Wes on his shoulders the entire time. Wanda and Celeste had just watched, cheering the teams on.

There were a few faces missing in the crowd as the game ended, but only one in particular that I noticed.

"Hey, I'll see you guys later," I said offhandedly to the others, grinning as Wes and Ian began to wrestle on the floor, completely not listening. "I've got to go…do this…thing."

"Oooooohhh, this _thing," _Ian said knowingly, propped up on one elbow. "I see. You're not, like…going to _see_ someone _special, _are you?"

Okay, maybe he WAS listening.

I stuck my tongue out at him as I left, even though it wasn't very mature.

I headed down the tunnel, thinking in wonder about how much had changed, how much had become right.

Petals had healed from the illness. The serum had saved her life. She was completely vibrant and healthy now, and since I hadn't seen her in so long, I took great joy in catching up and spending time with her. No one understood me quite as well as my sister did, and I delighted in being able to spend time with her and be with her again.

Celeste, Wes, Ian, and Wanda had become my extended family. I was constantly spending time with them, reading to Wes (who sometimes read back to me—he talked now. Not very much, but he'd definitely found his voice at last), helping Celeste with her hair and clothes (although I wasn't very good at it; she preferred helping _me _with _mine), _laughing and talking with Wanda, and playing games like soccer with Ian. They all accepted me, and we were just as close as before, perhaps even closer.

Everyone in the caves seemed to accept us now, even those who hadn't previously. Maybe they hated us less because we were more human than we had been before, not stealing bodies this time, but each of us having our own. And NO one could hate Petals. She was just naturally lovable. But our friends and family grew steadily to more than we'd ever had on any of our planets. Petals and I both loved it. We loved having such a feeling of friendship, acceptance, and community.

And then there was Sunny.

I turned the corner and saw the familiar light next to the gorges. My pace quickened eagerly. I knew who would be there.

"Sun-ny," I sang, and I heard her familiar giggle.

I stepped in and frowned. "Hmm…I wonder where Sunny is! She's missing!" I called out in a loud, teasing tone.

There was another giggle, and then silence.

Then something dropped down on me from above. Enough to make me stumble, but light enough that my new muscular body was easily able to handle it.

Sunny wrapped her arms around my neck, giggling.

"Well, there she is," I smirked, and then easily flipped her over my head. She shrieked, but I caught her, holding her in front of me.

"That never works," she grumbled, pouting.

I laughed, and we both sat down next to the gorges with the light shining on us.

"So," she said at last. "Petals and Jamie, huh?"

I growled, and she laughed.

"How on earth did they get away?" she snickered.

I sighed. "They didn't. After I found my sister, killed her, killed Jamie, resurrected them both and killed them again, I finally decided…" I sighed again. "I decided that it was all right."

"Well, then, Ben," she said, and her tone was very approving. "I'm proud of you. That must have been rough. The whole paternal/older-brother-instinct-thing must have been really hard to squash."

"I didn't," I grumbled. "It's still there. All I can do is suppress it…somewhat."

We were quiet for a long time. "That'll be an interesting relationship," she snickered.

Then she sighed. "You know, Ben, I'm so glad that you came back."

"It's thanks to you that I did," I reminded her, smiling.

She sighed. "When I thought you'd left me….it was horrible. It was more painful than I can even…" She didn't finish.

Guilt washed over me. "Sunny, I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I never meant to—,"

"My point is," she interrupted, "that I had to. After you telling me that you loved me…I knew that I had to."

I hugged her as tightly as I could. "I do love you," I murmured. "I didn't realize it until that moment, but I truly do."

Her smile was dazzling. "I love you, too," she whispered, and then we were kissing again, and it was more wonderful than the first time, all the more dazzling and beautiful because there were no tears and panic and heartbreak under the surface.

When we finally pulled apart, she sighed and shivered a little. "Do you ever…do you ever wonder if you did the right thing?" she whispered, and then the words were tumbling out of her mouth. "I was so scared that I did the wrong thing, bringing you back. I knew that you wanted to leave, and I thought you would be mad at me if I brought you back, and I didn't know if—,"

I interrupted her. "I know that I did the right thing. I know that this body is the right one for me. Do you want to know how I know?"

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and green and gorgeous.

"This body was made perfectly for me," I told her. "Every aspect of me."

I put my arm around her, in the same position that I had before I left, when she had poured her heart out to me and cried into my shoulder. She hadn't quite made it before, like two puzzle pieces that didn't match. But that was in Ian's body, where Wanda was the only one who really matched properly.

Now, in this new body, she fit perfectly into my side, my arm completely comfortable around her, as though it had been made exactly for this purpose, to comfort her and hold her. She understood at once, grinning up at me.

"Love you," I whispered.

We were perfect for each other. Sure, I was concerned about what problems Jamie and Petals might cause. Celeste and Wes would certainly cause more trouble, and their adolescence would be a challenge. The other humans might come back and cause war. There were some few problems, but we could cross those bridges when we got there.

My world, as of right now, was as perfect as a world can ever get.

Of course there would be problems. Sometimes problems can ruin your today.

But as long as you still have your hopes for tomorrow, everything will turn out all right in the end.

**THE END! THE REAL END! AT LAST!**

** Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This has been such a huge journey for me. I want to take a moment and thank every single person who reviewed. It meant so much to me, all of you. I really enjoy your support, and I'm so, so glad that you all liked my story.**

** And I'd be sad and sobbing right now if I didn't know one thing.**

** Plans for a sequel are in motion as we speak! AHA! HA HA HA! A TWIST!**

** I hope you enjoyed this story. Could you review for it one last time?**

** Thank you, thank you, thank you!**

** Hostfanatic is out for the last time…until next time! So make sure that you keep up with me so that you'll know when I start my sequel!**


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